Approaching Signs of Infrimity

Sunday was the occasion of the date of my birth, thirty-one years ago, and as usual it's made me think about stuff.

It's funny that as my birthday approached I seemed to be regressing in mental age. Which is sad as I don't have far to plunge. My parents left for a trip to Greece almost a month ago, and like a teenager I looked forward to wild parties, and even possibly having a girl over.

What made it even worse is the fact that my Dad's company apparently no longer needed me as the phone stayed quiet. So I was home alone and unemployed with a lot of time on my hands.

Sadly I'm really not that wild, and asking a lot of people to come over and party because my parents were gone struck me as a little pathetic. Actually with most of my weekends booked up I wouldn't have had time to have people over anyways. Except for the one Saturday when Shani was going to a live game that I'm not a part of. I invited some of my friends over, and we had a small lan party. For those not in the know a lan party is when everyone brings their computer to a location and hooks them up together in a network for the purpose of playing games together. Yes I know it sounds terribly geeky, which it is. But it was fun, and it's nice just to sit around with friends, chat, and play violent video games.

Not really anyone's idea of a wild party, but I did have a girl over. A few times. Honest.

So the week after this Shani is working, and I am faced with a lot of free time. I decide to rent a Xbox (Yes it's a machine that also plays games. Sue me.) from Rogers video. Now my initial desire was to rent it so that I could finish the Buffy game that I bought long ago when I also purchased my Xbox. Now you'll probably wonder as I am why I had to rent an Xbox when I had purchased one. Well naturally one day last year I was in the anti-material mood and I never played the damn thing so I decided to pawn it for quick cash which I needed at the time. The forgetting all about going back to claim it, it was no doubt sold. The better question to ask is why didn't I sell the game as well. And the answer is that I have no idea. Probably to torture myself at some future point.

Having the machine though I decided to try out a fighting game that sounded really cheesy, but looked interesting. So Wednesday night I ended up playing Def Jam: Fight for NY till 7:30 a.m. when I was shocked to discover how late it was. Now that was definitely teenage behaviour and something I haven't done in a while. I like to play games obviously still, but I never play for really long periods of time anymore. Even World of Warcraft which is super-addictive I have only played for a few hours at a time.

The next day I realized why I no longer do things like that. It seems my body failed to get the message about my getting more immature, and instead it chose to age. I've never really been good about missing sleep so regardless to say I was a complete wreck that day propped up by more and more caffeine which prevented me from even napping in the afternoon. That was normal, but what really got me was how sore I was. My shoulders were burning the next day, and my knees were stiff. What was really worrisome though was my hand.

Almost three months ago when I was at work dismantling some boards someone accidentally kicked a wooden block into my hand really hard. It hurt for a little while naturally then it went away. Well after that night the pain returned in the exact same area, and it's still persisting.

Of course I probably didn't help it by continuing to play the game more when I got home from Boston Pizza, but I really couldn't waste all that time on a game and not finish it. Could I?

Knife of Dreams (or the most exciting thing that happened to me all week :( )

Another lazy week has flashed by me again so once again it must be time for me to create a blog entry.

I exaggerate a little bit on the excitement part but not by much. For those not in the know "Knife of Dreams" is the 11the book in Robert Jordan's neverending Wheel of Time series, and it was finally released October 11th. The day that I went out and promptly purchased it.

I've been a die-hard fan of the series since high school, and when the books used to come out regularly every year I would wait in great anticipation. It was always something I looked forward to in the Fall. Of course the delays between books got longer, and the series stretched on with no ending in sight. I still defended it to the all the numerous people who were tired of the series going nowhere. I remember a friend joking with me that the Big Bad Guy was just going to get tired of waiting for the Last Battle and go home giving up his plans to destroy the world.

The 10th book "Crossroads of Twilight" really put a damper for me on the series though. Firstly most of the book takes place at the same time as the climatic events of the previous one. The main character Rand, and the huge event that he was a part of is hardly mentioned at all. Secondly there was no wrap up at all of any kind anywhere. Only more questions, and mysteries brought up. Secondly not to sound sexist, but almost the entire book consisted of the various female characters and their strained relationships with other female characters. There was absolutely no action in this book of any kind.

So then Robert Jordan after that book chooses to start writing a prequel novel to his series, "New Spring". To be fair I haven't read it, but I hear it's pretty good. So you might say I was a little worried when I purchased "Knife of Dreams".

Now I'd imagine that after all that build up people are going to expect me to say something like "It was the greatest book I've ever read", but unfortunately I can't do that. The prologue actually begins the book fantastically with the death of a minor character that I've hated and the reappearance of another one that I've missed. It slows down though as the book begins with more of the same man vs. woman hijinks that we've come to expect in the series. To top that off almost none of the major characters are together so he's forced to jump between them constantly. There's a few relevations here along with some loose threads tied up. I always like it in a book when the characters finally uncover the evildoer who has been hiding right under their noses. Especially when the reader has known for a few books already, and they're practically screaming at the characters to smarten up. There's a pretty huge event near the middle of the book that oddly passes by very quickly, and some definite foreshadowing to the end of the series thankfully. Maddeningly though some of the characters learn about something they have to do in a letter about half way through the book, but they never mention it again. This involved a plot line that I've been dying to learn more about, and in my opinion it's resolution would have been an awesome ending to this book.

Although I have complaints about this series as do most of the people who read it I would definitely recommend it for any fan of fantasy. Robert Jordan is a good author with a real skill at slowly giving us information as the characters get deeper into the world. The world and it's politics is probably the most detailed one that I've ever read in a fantasy novel. Honestly I must've liked the book as I stayed up till 6 a.m. a few nights reading it.

Now the next big book I can't wait for is "Feast of Crows" by George R.R. Martin. This is another series that has taken forever to come out. I honestly can't remember when the last book was released, but it was utterly fantastic. It was about a thousand pages and I read it in one day. What's funny is that this book ended up being so long that he had to split it into two parts along character and geographical lines. Originally he wasn't even going to write this book instead having some time pass for the characters before the next book began.

I'm glad he wrote it though and I can't wait till November for it to come out. Looking forward to more of the mayhem, main character's dying suddenly, and the political backstabbery. Anyways I'm sure I'll write more about it when it comes out.

Thanksgiving

Well it seems like my blog is ever-increasingly becoming an update on my weekend activities. I guess that's the only time anything slightly interesting ever happens to me. I'll have to post something philosophical this week.

Anyways so on Friday Shani and I headed out to dinner for a friends wife's birthday. As usual Shani insisted on doing things to their excess, and we ended up spending way too much. Both at the gift buying, and the dinner phase of the evening. The birthday girl was turning the big 3 - 0 so she wanted to go somewhere and try something she normally wouldn't. That meant sushi at the Kyoto restaurant downtown. A place I hear is very expensive for what you get.

Funnily enough though she wasn't feeling very well and therefore in no mood to experiment. So of the seven people there three were non-sushi eaters and they ended up ordering cooked stuff, or in the birthday girl's case just picking at her husband's plate. Shani stepped up to the plate of course, and ordering a bunch of small things she propped up the bill significantly. It really doesn't take much at a sushi restaurant I've learned to end up with an enormous bill and normally I keep a much closer eye on what she orders. I really shouldn't make it sound like she's a child especially when she was paying, but I still had to cringe.

One of the big dining differences between Shani and I and I imagine a lot of other people is that I like to eat simply when I go out. I've never been a big one for courses or appetizers, I just like to order my main dish and eat that. Oftentimes it seems gluttonous to order all these appetizers and dessert when the main course is more than enough to fill you up. I realize the different courses is part of the dining out experience, but I really abhor waste.

After dinner everyone parted ways early due to tiredness or illness so I headed home by myself with a strong desire to still be socialable and to do something. It's sad that these rare bouts of socialability rarely coincide with anyone else's schedule.

Saturday I spent some time cleaning inside and outside. Amazing myself at how much I got done in a short amount of time. Shani came over later and we hung out watching t.v. and playing on the computers. We started watching the Firefly dvd's that I had recently bought as she's never seen the episodes. It's been a little while for me too, and I was amazed at the differences between the show and the movie. The show's western influence seems to be all but erased in the movie, and I'm really not sure of my opinion on that. I like the western stuff, but I didn't really miss it in the movie. The other thing was the continuity, and anyone who knows me knows that I am a continuity nazi blessed with too good of a memory. Other people can explain away these little errors and it makes sense, but there's always this little voice in the back of my head saying that it's still worng.

Sunday my sister and her husband came over for a barbecue. Thanks to a huge grocery trip with Shani we were well stocked and there was a ton to eat. Unfortunately my sister's husband felt ill so he didn't eat anywhere as much as he usually does. Luckily I had cleaned the fridge out as it became very full with leftovers. We would be fine though as long as we avoided any other big meals.

We spent the evening talking about jobs, and running your own business. It was nice as I've never been super close with my sisters, and I usually don't just sit and talk with them. It's probably the result of being the odd man out literally, and it's often that I wish that I had a brother. Of course he would have been the jock type who would've harassed me daily for being a geek but I digress.

Later that night Shani mentioned that our friend was DJ'ing a special dark rave at Suburbs downtown. I'm not sure what a dark rave is exactly but I guess it's like a normal one all gothed up. I'm definitely not the poster boy for gothdom, but I did want to go as there would be a lot of familiar faces their undoubtedly. Shani and I had also just discussed how we never get out anymore. But unfortunately this persistent cold that I've had for about a week was bothering me, and I really didn't feel like driving around so that Shani could get some appropiate clothes and makeup. So we just watched some more Firefly.

Who knew there was another big meal on Monday? We spent the day getting ready anxious about the giant turkey that I had bought and whether anyone was actually going to show up. Shani did an amazing job with the turkey, and about a million different side dishes so needless to say she was in the kitchen the entire afternoon. Shani's Dad showed up which was nice as I haven't seen him in a while, and a couple of other friends who already had a thanksgiving but wanted another. Doubtless there was a bunch more people we could've invited who weren't already doing something, but planning events has never been my strong suit. The dinner was good with really excellent turkey and stuffing and I'm sure everyone enjoyed it. After dinner I was relegated to cleaning everything which only seems fair to me while everyone hung out in the living room. It ended up being another early night as everyone had to work early in the morning. I was glad after that the pressure of putting everything on, and playing host was over.

I never really had the opportunity to think about what I was thankful for, but I should soon. It's a good practice as we in North America worry so much about the small things we often neglect the really important stuff.

Trouble

To sum up it was a pretty good weekend.

The Angels game was terrific as usual, and a lot of fun. I even enjoyed the combat acting scene that a few of us performed before the game proper. Even though I died the zombie npc death about a half a dozen times we ended up taking a few of the Divine fallen with us. The storyteller actually had to tone down the encounter which I don't know bothered me or not. On the one hand you want something to be challenging and if the players blow it well that's just their problem, they'll have to try again better prepared. On the other hand though the players should be rewarded for coming up with a good plan, and to be honest the scenario was a little tough. Anyways I must be a bad roleplayer because I enjoy mass combat scenes like that. I know there's players who shy away from even touching a die, but I enjoy the strategic element and the randomness.

The game itself was interesting, and exciting. My character Tempest was playing it smooth all night trying his best to be everyone's friend even the Divine's. Several times he had to really fight down his emotions as people accidentally or not pushed his buttons. The worst was when people were looking for the Deistical prelate to read the Codex, and he was late because he was having sex with Gwen, Tempest's consort and underling. Astrid one of Tempest's enemies, and someone he finds absolutely pathetic tried to bring this up to hurt him. Luckily I was distracted by the Black Regent whipping his Divine brother, or I would have exploded right there. Also luckily Tempest didn't run into Gwen the rest of the night, instead he ended up beating her later when they got home. The truly scary part was that she liked it.

I was definitely getting more into the groove with this character, and why he would do the things he does. Still have to work on the being mean part, but it's developing. People say that it's so much harder to play the good guys, the Divine in this case, but I would have to disagree. Sure the Infernal can be shocking and outrageous while the Divine have to just grin and bear it, but hopefully there's more to it than that. If you're going to play a good bad guy you have to figure out what is it exactly that makes your character evil and why he does it. And you really have to inject a dose of humaness or weakness, otherwise you are just a cartoon villain. There's also the need to play something that's dramatically opposed to your own values. Despite the negative press I think most roleplayers are really nice people at heart.

On Sunday I found out that my Exalted game was going to be cancelled once again due to sickness, once again. When I originally started the game I saw it as something casual that we would do once in a while. I realize that for a lot of people it's hard to get in gear Sunday morning. Unfortunately when we started the game and played a few sessions in a row I began to move away from the light adventure aspect to a more plot heavy game. Of course I'm regretting that now that I can't get the big stories moving, but I realize that one of my weaknesses as a Storyteller is making the plot too big. I'm going to have to remember to let the characters have some fun once in a while if we ever get the chance to play again.

The group that I play with is one I fell out with for a while as I dropped out of some of the games that were being run. Right now I'm almost regretting returning as it's beginning to seem too much like work to game with them. Everyone has their own issues and hang-ups making it almost impossible to get a cohesive group going. Anyways they're good people, and roleplayers and I enjoy our games so I guess I'll stick around and see what I can salvage. Should probably learn to run shorter stories that can be resolved in a few sessions before we move onto the next game.

So Sunday ended up being a day of relaxation for Shani and I which was very nice. She made crepes for me in the afternoon which were fantastic. Later we went to see the "History of Violence" at the theater, and it was a fantastic, shocking, very well written movie. Viggo Mortensen does an incredible job playing the ordinary small town guy. He does it very understated, and quiet where other actors might have gone over the top with it. The worrisome thing was that there's a character in the movie who Shani, and numerous friends said looks exactly like me. I probably would have been more flattered if this particular guy hadn't been a very evil serial killer.

After that movie I convinced Shani that we should walk into the theater where they were playing Serenity to catch the end of that movie again. Of course due to movie length differences it was actually not even half way. A lot of the big moments weren't as exciting the second time through as I had expected, but it was still fun. Shani I think spent more time watching the audience for their reactions than looking at the screen.

Later on we had some major confusion and annoyance as Shani ended up locked out of her house, but it was still a good day.

Lazy Days of Fall

So apparently the bricklaying work has dried up. Enough so that they no longer need my unskilled labor anyways. Not that I'm really sad about it.

I've been off for a week now, and it's been pretty quiet around here as my parents headed off to Greece last Monday for a month. The weather is pretty warm there and the land is beautiful, but I can't really envy them. I'd imagine except for a few days their time is going to be spent visiting the literally hundreds of relatives we have there. Especially bad for my Dad as he has to sit and translate for my Mom, and like me he's not really social a lot of the time. We're generally happier just doing our own thing.

This weekend looks to be pretty busy though. Friday night was a friend's birthday, and to start off we went to see the early showing of the movie Serenity. Despite what the reviewers said I actually found it to be really good, and that's even discounting my love of Firefly, and all things Joss. Some things were a little spoiled for me as I'd read a little too much on the internet added to the fact that the plot was a little transparent. Still I thouroughly enjoyed, and I would have to agree with a friend that it was a story that needed to be told much like the original Star Wars. Even though it wrapped up a lot of stuff and they could leave the characters where they are now I'd really like to see a couple of sequels. Something maybe a little fluffier with more focus on the characters, and maybe revolving around a heist of some kind. So if you haven't seen it, and you like sci-fi make sure you go out and see it.

Afterwards we headed over to the very packed party to observe the loot gathering. Unfortunately many people had the same gift ideas, and she ended up with a few of the same Angel and Buffy box set. It was very enjoyable as always to hang out and mingle, and as usual with the gaming group the conversations ran the gamut from the geeky to the disturbing. Particularly enlightening was one person's description of what he would do in case the world gets overrun with zombies. very interesting to note that he admits freely that he would probably lose his marbles.

Anyways I should really run. Got an Angels game to go to, and a million things to do. We have to pick some people up, get Shani's house key from her roommate, and head out early so we can act for some other characters who are fighting some big bad. The group is mostly Divine so I'm wishing myself some good luck.