How Does It End?

Enough laziness in August. Time to start anew, methinks.

Fatigued

Holy HELL am I tired!

Work Time

Lots of work to do all over the place. I'm gonna have to hold back again.

Busy Relaxing Time

Enjoying my day off today. I'll throw something on here tomorrow.

Working Detour

I don't really have any sort of topic I'd like to talk to you about today.

I know, I know - this looks like the ominous start of a foregone conclusion - one where I basically post a few sentences, call it a day, and only worry about blogging the next day. It's disheartened anyone who used to read my blog like crazy, and it's also lowered my morale over the last two-thirds of a year. At this point, it looks as though that this entry is done - I'll crawl back to whatever hole I live in with a "content" feeling inside my mind and the readers will just call me a cheapass.

Well, that's not today. At least I don't think so...

Serene Abduction

Friday, February 9th, 2007 –
The day when you kidnapped me from the world
And I was to be your captive for the weekend.

You took me across 22 miles of ocean
And settled me in a place called Avalon
To bond with 40 of my peers from class.

Never in my life would I picture myself
Temporarily residing with you and your sisters
Who dotted the vastness of the Pacific.

During my time there, you showed me peace
And brought forth within me a hidden sense of strength
That, while repressed within me, still keeps me going.

You also showed me of beauty and love,
The concept of having confidant(e)s,
The sweet luxury of being at ease with the world.

Alas, your tutelage was finite
And as soon as I felt your soothing embrace,
I was tossed back towards the chaotic mainland.

As I looked back on the boat ride home,
Your exotic-sounding name spurred within me
A deep longing for serenity that I may never have again.

So whenever I find myself on the waterfront,
I take the time to look your way and say,
"Catalina, I will forever thank you."

That Time Again

Looks like it's time to go to work tomorrow.

The Last Weekend Off

I'm taking it easy this weekend - I want to say it's the first proper weekend off that I've had in a while. Yes, I know - I had decent time off in-between jobs - but this weekend is the first one in a while where I was both employed and have Saturday and Sunday off.

I'm going to start revving the gears on Monday. I can see some of you not holding your breath on that one, and I don't blame you. But as next week is the last week of August, I think I should leave this eighth month with a decent note as opposed to the crap we've had to endure so far.

Until then, I think I'm just going to stay in the shade. Maybe hang out with some friends. Play a game. *shrugs* I don't know. I just know I'll be resting up... and then posting. I hope.

Small Entry, Big Plan

Okay. I've basically given up on posting anything substantial this week.

Life seems to get in the way of things - I get called in to work earlier than expected; friends invite me out to lunch; I get distracted by shiny things on the Internet; fatigue from being up too long, et cetera. I'm not saying this isn't my fault or anything like that - I'm sure it is. Poor time management (or rather, poor focus - hey, is that a StreetPass tag?) just makes things difficult for me.

Ah, well. It's okay in my book - I'm just going to do small things here and there to improve how things are going.

I think that was my mistake thus far this year - my rather large ambitions tend to be more overwhelming than I anticipate them to be, and as such, very little "good" entries have shown up.

So let's start small...

Not the Charm

This day was just... well, it was a lot of work. Sadly, this work was at actual work - not for here.

Another Sideline

...okay, so there isn't anything good here. That's my bad. I got distracted by people and other activities, and it's my day off from work. If it's any consolation, I've got something in the works. Barring any major shiny object that lands in my lap, it should be up by tomorrow.

Of course, that remains to be seen...

Not Unlike Before

I'm going to post something tomorrow. It's going to be good, unlike this one.

Cultural Inclusion

During my birthday I was with my girlfriend and some friends at Topper's Pizza (not to be confused with the Topper's Pizza of the Great Lakes region of the United States), discussing some things involving Terani and the role-playing game engine system (d20 Modern). As we were talking I was asked a question:

What are the cultures like for each country?

...frak. I forgot to do that. All my work with getting enemies, NPCs, storylines and what not fleshed out and what not... all undermined by a simple question that covers something I should have had done a while ago. *sighs* This seems about right for me to do something as forgetful as this.

To be honest, it's probably a good thing that I'm doing this now. Since I have (most of) the technical aspects covered for this campaign, I now have time to help bring this world to life. Done correctly, the entire world will become the players' oyster. For example, players can hear a name or language and realize that a certain NPC hails from such and such a country. Said country consists of a sort-of "conqueror's culture" of sorts that considers running away from a challenge as the most dishonorable thing ever. Using this knowledge, the players can use this to their knowledge and challenge him for the woman he and his cronies are holding captive. (In this example, the PCs' taunt would work.)

Of course, I've got more work now for myself to take care of because of this. With over sixty countries on the Terani map, I've got to start creating the cultures.

The Last Day Off

As my birthday weekend comes to a close, I think I'll just take this last day off before I continue on as scheduled.

Próto Savato

Now that my birthday has passed, it's time to get serious. Seriously silly.

I did say yesterday that I'd try to get us back to our regular schedule, and this is my attempt at doing so. (It's also an effort at getting back to typing decent entries more often.)

"Happy birthday to me" indeed.

Well, let's not keep you waiting. Keep on reading if you feel like finding out what happened during my birthday!

Time to Be 24

It's my birthday today, everyone! I'll be back to post something about it all tomorrow! For now... I'm gonna sleep and be happy with how today was. Hehehe. I promise you, we'll get back to schedule in due time.

The Last Post of 23

In my experience, I've found that I tend to be more forgetful the closer it is to my birthday. As such, in my time spent enjoying my last day as a 23-year-old, I almost forgot to post something on here. *shakes head in amusement* Seems almost typical these days, and yet we find ourselves drawn here, waiting for some kind of blossoming sequence.

I'll see what I can do to make sure my first few entries as a 24-year-old 18+6-year-old will fare better than the bulk of this year's... "entries." For now, I'll just go to sleep, never to wake up again as someone who is only 23. I'll be two dozen years old after I stir... and that kinda has me feeling a tiiiiiiiiny bit jittery.

Allowed Laziness

I'm enjoying some time relaxing. It's my birthday week; I think I'm allowed to slack off a bit and not type much on here. Maybe once my birthday weekend's passed, I'll get back up to speed.

It's Really My Birthday Soon?

I find it slightly amusing that I haven't really cared much for my birthday just yet.

It's not that I don't care about my birthday. It's just that I don't seem to be in a celebratory mood. Don't take this as a bad thing or anything. I do like my birthday. For one day, people have to worship me, throw positive comments my way, and offer me gifts lest I murder them ostracize them from the current group I happen to be with at that moment. I enjoy that.

For some strange reason, though... I'm not in the mood for my birthday just yet. Maybe as it gets closer...

Anyway, I had work earlier today and now I'm off to be with some friends tonight. I'll post something better tomorrow.

Playing With Work

Before I went to sleep last night, I told myself I'd work a bit more on the whole "Terani" project I'm doing for my tabletop RPG campaign.

Normally, whenever I get focused on a project as fun as this one, I get easily distracted by some other form of amusement. I might be typing up a storyline or developing stats for (originally not-vital) NPCs when all of a sudden I get caught up in one line of thought (e.g.: How much damage would a semi-automatic Steyr AUG A1 do in-game using the d20 Modern system?). Initial research done on the Internet soon has me winding up at TV Tropes looking up something completely off topic like the "Funny" page of Game of Thrones - all within a span of five minutes. While entertaining in its own right (hearing sweet Lena Headey constantly insulting Joffrey with curses in the second episode's commentary: frakking hilarious, especially when you consider who she plays), it usually puts me behind.

The above paragraph is true - it only took me two minutes to type it out, yet the overall time spent using those two minutes ended up being a half-hour - getting the link for Cersei Lannister somehow got me to read TV Tropes - and as I typed this out I kept switching from Blogger to Tropic Thunder's trope page. *shakes head in amusement*

Okay. I'm getting distracted. I need to focus. *deep breath*

Anyway. I said I was going to put myself to work on Terani, and here I am, typing things up and... and, uh... *looks below*

This is "work." It's me taking a picture of (Lego!)me taking a picture of... me. Photoception?

...what the frak am I doing...!?

A Day Off

Sometimes, I deserve one. I'm going to use today to get my bearings back and relax. We'll resume with the awesomeness tomorrow. For now... I'm gonna go relax.

Besides, it's my birthday week - I'm allowed some slack, right?

Resources in Warfare

Remember yesterday's talk about me trying to come up with a reasoning behind why things are the way they are? You don't, do you?

After a discussion with one of my friends last night, I think I came up with a believable idea. While I could tell you about it now, I'm not. Rather, I'll just give you a rough backdrop of the world I've created... and more of it will be coming soon as I keep working.

Legitimate Shaping

While I've spent quite a bit of time trying to come up with a storyline for my tabletop campaign, it just occurred to me that I should come up with a logical explanation for some of the things that exist in the game universe.

When confronted with a question that seems to break the "logic" behind a universe's physics and technology, the average dungeon master will (attempt to) handwave some crappy excuse and try to make it canon. In a few cases, the players will buy it, but the more meticulous and/or clever ones will find a way to turn their query into a (legal) loophole of sorts. This can either end badly (i.e.: time that could've been spent playing the game is wasted on arguing) or end in a worse manner (i.e.: verbal wars that end years-long friendships).

Of course, I'm not an average dungeon master(-to-be) - I'm a beginner dungeon master. There's a few things here and there that I feel need some kind of justification. I'm not just going to half-ass an answer and say something stupid like "That's just how it works, okay?" No - I feel like I'm better than that. So now my mission for the rest of the night is as thus: create a few believable (read: "not likely to sound like arguable bullshit") reasons as to why my game's world is the way it is.

This sounds like a fun mini-project in itself. I'm wondering what I'll be able to come up with - and how believable it is.

No Inspiration

I must admit that inspiration did not strike me today for anything.

Figma

As I look, they stand there
a piece of my life staring back at me
they say nothing, think nothing
yet every time my eyes wander to them
they instantly dance to life

So full of joy and so full of emotion
their livid plastic pulsates vivid color
as they smile at each other
wave to me from their anchored position
offer me entertainment in the lulls

At times they're like fashion models
strutting flair and appeal to the masses
but I think of that as incorrect
They're more like girls that're best friends
same and different, plastic and real

As they stand there
they gaze at me
watch as I work
guide me to entertainment
when I tire of tedious jobs

They sit atop my desk
living it up like none other
because that's what Figma figures do
decorate, educate, dance, smile
and I can't help but do the same

Trolling for Shoes

I found this little gem in my documents a little while ago: a pre-typed response to this... (counter-)troll (for lack of a better term) I encountered long ago in World of Warcraft. Now, I'm usually not one to post anything on Trade Chat. If I do, I'm looking for business offers or trying to make money by Alchemy.

Comic Education

This is going to sound quite weird, but I'm giving myself the day off to re-read Darths & Droids. It's a great way for me to learn more ideas involving tabletop role-playing games. That, and I feel like I could use a little me time.

No, this isn't what it seems. I'm not going to revert back to making crappy posts. But with yesterday's entry, I think I deserve a break, don't you?

2013 Birthday Gift Ideas for Me

It just occurred to me right now yesterday that in two weeks, it'll be my birthday.

Wow. How could I forget such an important day for me this year? I become another year older in a mere thirteen days (counting this one)! I can officially be referred to as someone in their "mid-twenties!" While I could blame me and my bad memory, I'm not going to - this year's not a substantial birthday.

In about thirteen days, I'm likely to get something similar to this.

Confused? Keep reading to find out both what I mean... and what I want. *shifty eyes*

An Expanded Mini-Project

Due to time constraints, I won't be able to type something substantial on here today. What was originally planned to show up on here became much larger than I anticipated - which is a good thing, considering how much this blog needs decent entries as of late.

Expect it to show up around tomorrow afternoon - and by then, you'll see why I let it get bloated. I apologize if you were expecting something cool today - perhaps tomorrow will make up for that.

A Fortune in the Stars

I once heard these words from a magnificent bastard known as Revolver Ocelot:

"There's no such things as miracles or the supernatural - only cutting-edge technology!"

For the most part, when I began to actually think for myself as a teenager, I took those words to heart. Normally, I'm not one for delving in supernatural things and believing in them. I don't believe in any religion, having lost faith in God when I was a teenager (though that doesn't stop me from tolerating most of my friends' beliefs - it's their lives, not mine).

Death and Rebirth

In all seriousness, I'm pretty sure I was dead for some time. No, we're not talking about some metaphorical "he's been off the radar for gods-know-how-long; where the frak is he?" version of death. I'm talking about the "deceased long enough to qualify for a black arts ritual or an alpha zombie" kind of dead.

When you think about it for some time, you'd probably agree with me. Let's take a look at the last seven months that 2013 has witnessed so far in my life. Just how many good quality entries were there on this blog? As I'm too lazy to look back at the last 212 entries or so, I'm going to guess that less than 10% could actually qualify as "decent" or better. (If the last qualifying entry was written nearly two months ago, then I'm sure my guess seems accurate.)

I did attempt to get myself revived at the start of July. Truly. I mean, (I tried. We can see how that resulted.) While it led to self-disappointment at how weak I've allowed myself to become, it led to something I didn't expect to show up.