Friends

This is an unusual topic, considering the fact that I am a supernerd, and therefore have no friends. Instead, we’ll talk about the greatest sitcom of all time. Nah, I’m kidding. I have a truck load of friends, and I love all of them. My best friend of the last 18 years is my roommate and that’s pretty badass. And, I play Dungeons and Dragons/Pathfinder (I don’t really see much difference between the two) with another great group of friends. I consider all of them my best friends too (with certain exceptions because I’m kind of a dick), and being able to sit down with them once a week is fantastic.

Then there’s Cupcake. If I had to say anything at all, I’d say she’s my very best friend. The one I love above all others, the one I would give my life for if it came down to it, she’s also the one I sleep with at night, so it’s best not to upset her.

Me and Cupcake at her mom and dad's house.

But, on another note, I’ve not always had a wide array of friends, and I’ve not always been the obnoxious asshole I am now who gets bored and likes to torment his friends.

Yeah, growing up it was hard to make friends as I was always the outcast. The one bullies picked on in grade school, and everybody else avoided me because they didn’t want the same sort of treatment.

Me and Erik in a Bitstrips comic. And, I just realized I don't have a picture of me and Erik.

I found Erik (my roommate) in the fifth grade. We got stuck in afterschool detention a number of times. Not because either of us were delinquents. I was always behind on class work, and he moved to West Virginia about halfway through the year and we were both in detention catching up on class work, and we started talking. We found we liked the same things, Power Rangers, Transformers, and other things I’ve probably forgotten about at this point in my life.

Our friendship was always solid. We practically lived at one another’s houses until the time we got out of high school. We were always making up stories, and playing them out with various action figures. I even remember the two of us using lighters and matches to disfigure one or two of the figures. We made it look like he’s suffered some serious battle damage.

I’m smiling now, as I think about this, maybe even tearing up a little. I wonder from time to time what happened to those kids. When did we stop being kids and start being adults? When did this wall of responsibility come crashing down around us?

It’s like I said in that excerpt the other day. Things change. It’s the way of things.

And, there’s a lot of irony there too. How much time did we spend as children wishing we were grown up? And, how much would an adult give up being able to go back to being a child? I would give up almost everything. Everything I own, everything I’ve done, except for being with Melanie. I would take a tight hold on her, and bring her back to my childhood, because, even as a child she would fill the empty spot in my heart.

I wasn’t whole until I met Mel. And, I’m still missing a few things (sanity is one of them, but I’m a-ok without that) but with her I am complete. I guess that’s what a wife, or a significant other in general, is meant to be. The puzzle piece that completes you makes you whole. That’s why she’s the best of my friends. One of the two I will hold close and never let go.

Now, I’m trying to think of a way to incorporate this concept into the game, but it’s already there. Without friends, without my Damn Dirty Dungeon Crawlers, there would be no game. So, yeah, I love all of them too.

That doesn’t mean I won’t summon Cthulhu on their asses if they piss me off. Just saying. Lol.

Ryan

3-20-14

Gravity

Today’s topic is about something we’re all well acquainted with, though it took a falling apple to point it out to Sir Issac Newton. Yup, gravity, the constant enemy to those who like to stand up.

Cupcake lost a fight with gravity today, and it’s the third fight she’s lost in the last week if I’m not mistaken, and I lost one too, not too long ago. I’ve got a doctor’s excuse and x-rays to prove it.

I don’t have any broken ribs, but something’s wrong. I’ve got pain and this and that and I don’t feel like bitching about it right now. Me and Cupcake have both lost our battles with gravity recently, and that’s pretty much all I’ve got to say about gravity.

Now, I need to find something else to talk about.

Gravity is boring.

So, I’ll talk about role-playing instead. I don’t mean playing Dungeons and Dragons or any rpg video game (and not adult centric role playing) I mean just sitting down with a few friends, a pen and a piece of paper and pretending to be someone else for a while.

Writing is one way of doing it. Acting is another. Then you have the games, and all these things focus on a sort of transformation. Somewhere along those lines you stop being you, all your worries fade away. For a little while, at least, you don’t have to worry about where the rent money’s coming from or about what’s happening to the world at large. All that matters is that character and what’s going to happen next.

Escapism is the word for it, and I think it’s a word that bears repeating. We can escape from our lives and our responsibilities for just a tiny fraction of time. It really might be what keeps most of us sane.

I know I work out a lot of my problems when my pencil connects with the page. I can see all of it flowing out of me, through me, and transforming. Those problems and fears and hopes and dreams, all of them become the essence of whatever character I’m writing about. Whether it be about a gnome and a necromancer or a half-vampire and an army of the undead, they are the same because they are me, and they’re different because they’re my window into another world.

That might be why I like writing so much. I enjoy escaping, living these other lives like I’m Batman or some shit like that. And, I write because I want to share that joy with other people. I want my readers to be free from their worries, even if it’s just for one cigarette smoke filled night. I want them to be free and feel the joy and triumph, pain and sorrow of another. I want them to be free, and I want them to know that life is worth living because of those little moments of happiness, of freedom.

And, that’s enough preaching out of me. Later kids.

Ryan

2-26-14/2-27/14

To Crochet

Yes, Minnie is going to pick up a new hobbie that has absolutely nothing to do with healing the other party members, or tending to Jacob. Her first project is to make an axe cozy to keep Axe’s axe blade nice and warm… and yeah, that’s not going to happen. I felt the need to get the game reference out of the blog post early. Other than that, I don’t expect this topic will touch on the game at all. And, instead of me asking Cupcake for a topic I came up with one all by myself.

dreamstime.com

To crochet, the act of crocheting, using a hook like needle to fold threads of yarn (or any string like material) into a desirable pattern to make a useful garment. Or something along those lines. I don’t know what the text book definition of crochet is, and it would be atypical of me to actually go and look it up. I rather enjoy winging it, and hoping everything comes out ok on the other side.

I’m not even sure, really, whether this post is going to be about crocheting. It just seemed like a good place to start as I was crocheting when I thought of it. And, crocheting is a really, kind of, fascinating craft. You can do a great many practical things with it, blankets, scarves, sweaters, hats, socks, hell you could probably crochet a pair of pants if you really wanted too, but sometimes the end result doesn’t matter.

Let’s look at it as if it were a journey. The destination isn’t the only important thing about the journey. I mean, hell, life is a journey and its destination is death. It’s what comes between those two points that really matters. The memories, the triumphs, and failures, all of that is one brick in the road our journey takes us along.

Now, how is crocheting like that? Isn’t crocheting a pretty mindless repetitive task? In a way, I guess it is, but breathing is also a mindless repetitive task. Buddhist monks use breathing, specifically control of their breathing, to enter into a meditative state, one where the physical does not matter and the mental is all that’s left. Crocheting, for me anyway, does the same thing. The simple act of concentrating on those mindless repetitive motions allows my mind to soar free of its mental confines and stressors. I’m free when I’m working that little hook back and forth, free in even a way that writing can’t replicate.

I think I’m starting to stumble over my words.

I feel bigger, and more at peace with the world around me when I crochet. Working the threads is sort of like being the hand of fate, creating all the twists and turns a person’s life is going to go through. Maybe it gives me a sense of control over my own life.

Maybe.

And, even in the places where I feel like I have the most control over my life, things get chaotic and out of hand. I imagine it’s a knot the hand of fate has run into, and he’s having to work the yarn a little harder to get it exactly the way he wants it.

This is where I’m going to stop, too. I don’t think I’d be happy if I kept on writing. It was taking a depressing turn. SO, to cheer myself back up, I’m going to go watch My Little Pony and crochet a bit more. Maybe figure out what it is I’m actually working on.

http://doctorxfizzle.deviantart.com/

Ryan

2-20-14

Random Topic #1

I don’t know what it is. Lol.

Today is one of those days where I need Mel’s brain to pick things out for me. But, she’s not here today. They cancelled school, but had a Code W (in Mingo County it’s a Code W, I don’t know what it is elsewhere) which means students aren’t going to be there, but teachers have to report. And, I don’t get it. Teachers are paid to teach, if there are no students there why do the teachers need to be there. It’s like having a full staff at McDonalds, but the stores closed and there’s not a customer in sight. It just doesn’t make sense. I dunno, it’s probably got something to do with them being on salary or some shit like that.

Also, my walk for the day was screwed up because of the Code W. Normally, I do laps around the elementary school, which is right beside my house. I do my laps when nobody’s there. Because of the Code W there were people there. Grump.

So, I had to take another route, which screwed with my normal shebang and messed up my pedometer reading because of all the snow I had to trudge through. I really need to start getting up early enough to get the mud room warmed up. Then I can use the treadmill for my walk. And, at the very least I could just do laps in there. I dunno.

And, now I’m running out of things to talk about. My brain and I aren’t getting along well at the moment.

Usually, by this point I’ve managed to find a way to include some Dungeons and Dragons reference in the post. Or I’ll swing the post around to being about D&D altogether, and I think we’re going to go that direction today too. But, we’re going to throw a little Minecraft in there as well.

I’m lazy, and I’ve been trying to figure out what my world looks like. I’ve looked online for map making software, specifically for gaming purposes, but most of it was expensive and I’m not sure if it was for gaming or not. So, I had no luck there.

Then I started playing Minecraft, and I realized that Minecraft is pretty much a random map generator. There are also addons/mods/whatever that give you a world map. I used Amidst, and I think I’ve got a pretty good idea of what my world looks like now.

Now, I’m just trying to figure out how the stories I’ve made up thus far and their locations fit in with the map. I’m not sure yet, but I’ll figure it out. I know that the world spawn is going to be the location of the world’s largest city, Priasez. And, I’ve more or less picked out a location for the current city the PCs are in (Netheretia). I’ve even gone so far as to “clear” out a space to build this particular city.

Netheretia is a city situated in the Underhaven (underground) which is why the hole goes so deep. That and I really like blowing things up. Though clearing out all the left over bits and pieces is hard; that and cleaning up the lava and other things. It’s time consuming… (And, the destruction pictured above is much more widespread then what the screen capture encompasses.)

Which is something I dislike. I’m lazy and I’m impatient. I don’t want to worry about all this clean up, I want my city done now! I don’t even want to build it myself. I want it to appear all on its own. Though that’s probably about as likely as a million dollars suddenly materializing in my bank account.

Anywho, that’s more than enough out of me. Later kids.

Ryan

1-24-14

Badrick Witch***

I didn’t have to ask Mel to give me a topic today! I came up with one all by myself. Lol. You should all be proud of me… and those of you who aren’t… well, you all can bite a hockey puck flavored biscuit.

Not sure where that came from. I might be a little hyper. Though, it’s more likely that I’m so tired I’m going crazy.

Anywho…

I had to work today, and there’s nothing like work to bring out the worst in me. I don’t know what it is, but it’s like I go to work and sink to the bottom of a cesspool. So, I tried to keep my mind busy with something else. It turned around towards something I did last night.

While I was working on my Dungeons and Dragons adventure I had to come up with a minor mob fight for an encounter. The PCs last left things off in a bar, so I figured I’d use the barkeeper as the mob for the encounter. I’d planned to use him as a way to give the PCs information and thought why not have them beat the info out of the barkeeper.

So, I worked up stats for the NPC (non-player character) based off of what I’d told them about the barkeeper before. He’s a dwarf who was in some terrible mishap and lost both legs and an arm. These limbs were replaced with big hulking stone limbs like one’s you’d see on a golem. In fact, the template I applied to the NPC is the Half Golem template. I worked the stats up, did some play testing and figured that was it.

Today, as a way to escape from work I named him. Badrick Witch*** (that last part is vulgar and I’m trying to stay kid friendly today) and he is the owner/operator of The Witches *** (same word, same reason) the bar/tavern/inn the PCs are staying at. But, that wasn’t enough. I wanted to know what had happened to him to make him the way he is. His name isn’t Darth Vader, so I don’t believe it was a fateful lightsaber duel on the volcanic planet of Mustafar.

Then an argument crept into mind. One a father and son might have. The father wants his son to do one thing, and the son wants to do another.

And, until I started to write the argument out I had it right there at the front of my mind.

“You’re a Witch***, and Witch***s are barkeepers. I’ve got a bar, passed down to me from your grandfather, and he got it from his father. This bar has been in the Witch*** family for fourteen generations, and you want to break the chain?”

That’s Badrick’s father. It’s an age old fight that will go on so long as there are fathers and sons. But, Badrick wanted to be an adventurer, he told his father as much and ran off to join an adventuring party that had just stayed at The Witch’s ***. They took him along, and the party ran afoul of a deep horned dragon, a damn (there went the kid friendly) big beastie with eight heads, who thought the party would make a tasty snack. The dragon killed the adventurers one by one, swallowing them whole. It chomped on Badrick’s arm, then his legs (actually taking everything from the waist down), and left him there to die.

A wizard came along, fried the dragon, and saved Badrick’s life. But, there wasn’t a cleric to be found and arcane magic doesn’t do much good with replacing limbs. So, the wizard used his wizardy might to make stone replacement limbs for Badrick (The 6 Million Dollar Dwarf). Everything went pretty much as planned and the wizard sent Badrick on his way.

He returned home, his heart broken by the cold fact that he wasn’t cut out to be an adventurer. He accepted the destiny his father put before him, and became the disgruntled dwarven barkeeper he is today.

As a neat little character trait, I’ve made it so that Badrick’s lost some control of his limbs over the long years, and the limbs have taken to murdering random NPCs. Yet, the people of the town Badrick lives in don’t perceive this trait as a problem. He does live in a pirate town after all.

Anywho, that’s enough from me. Maybe the PCs will overcome Badrick the Half Golem, maybe they won’t. And, maybe Badrick will make another appearance later on in the story.

Laters.

Ryan

1-23-14

Journal 7-16-13

Anybody know what's going on in life today?

I missed it. Lol.

I dunno, I've missed a lot lately. I've been really busy, which is the main reason I haven't been posting here. I should have made time to post here, but hindsight is twenty-twenty or something like that.

Anyway, we are moved into the new house. It's still not finished yet, but even with the contractor here, and only being able to use half the space in the house, it's so much better than our old place. Plus, if the contractor's right (I'm not holding my breath), it should only be two or three more days before he's finished and we get some breathing room.

I've also fallen behind on a couple of other things. Writing mainly. I haven't been posting here. I haven't been doing Hubs. And, I haven't been doing any creative writing...

Well, that last statement is kind of a lie. I have been doing some creative writing. I've got a neat little short story going, but it's not anything related to a possible money making project. And, I still haven't decided if I'm going to publish it on HubPages, or see if I can possibly get it published through a magazine or some such thing. Anything is possible. Especially when I'm involved.

I have been doing a couple of neat things though.

I've been playing with fire. Lol.

The new landlord's have something of a mess in their backyard from the renovations done to the trailer, and I've been burning the leftover bits of wood and flooring and whatnot. Nothing that's harmful to mother nature. Just a pretty, hypnotizing flame. Sitting and staring at it might be one of the reasons I haven't gotten any writing done. Maybe.

Another is construction. I've begun working on a something. I have and haven't decided what it is yet. Right now it's four two-by-fours nailed together using two smaller two-by-fours. I'm thinking it's going to be a bookshelf. Maybe. And, that's only because I haven't decided to feed it to the fire yet. I'll take some pictures of it in the next day or so to post here and on facebook. It'll be nice to have some physical type of art to show off. Lol.

I think there was something else. But, I'm really not sure. It's bedtime for me, so, it's kind of hard to remember things.

I'll talk at you kids later.

Ryan

Journal 6-17-13

So, I did it again. I didn't write the post last night, but since I woke up early enough to hit it within ten/fifteen minutes of my typical post time, I figured I wouldn't be too hard on myself.

Anywho, what did I do yesterday?

I worked 9-5.

I took a walk in a new direction.

I made a map.

It's for my DnD adventure, it's the site of the first encounter. And, yes, it does look like it was made by child who just learned how to use paint. That is pretty much the extent of my artistic skill when it comes to drawing. I would also like to add that I'm planning on getting map making software at some point, map making specifically for DnD, and I hope that will improve my abilities. For now, though, my players are going to have to deal with the artwork of a three year old.

And, it took me until this morning to realize that the map was in color. This wouldn't be a problem, normally, but I've got a laser printer that uses toner, it doesn't print in color...

Yeah, and that was pretty much the extent of what I did yesterday. I wrote maybe four little bits and pieces about the second encounter. I also did some more world-building work. I made an entire kingdom. Number of towns, town names, population. There are still a few bits that I haven't come up with, but the better part of the work is done. And, what's crazy, is I'm looking forward to making each of those towns, and finding things about them that will make interesting story seeds/hooks. I should note, that this is also crazy since the likelihood that I will use these towns in game is almost nill. I might use some of them, but I definitely won't use all of them.

As for progress on my articles or Cold Lunch, I've got nothing to report. Yup, still been poking at the stories I've got for my DnD campaign. Specifically the novella, I don't know, but I already like where it's going, and I kind of like the fact that I don't know where that is.

Anywho, I'm going to check out for the day. I will talk to you cats and kids later.

Ryan

PS: I did get one of my articles typed and posted though. Level 5 Review of Neverwinter's the title, check it out if you want :)

Cold Lunch Project Journal #40

The Undead Novel.

Alright kids, guess what!

Cold Lunch is back. And, it’s here to chew bubble gum and kick ass, and it’s all out of bubble gum.

I’ve always wanted to use that line.

Anyway, as you can see, I’ve finally gotten my head on straight enough to get back to work on Cold Lunch. Now, I’m not working on the third quarter yet, simply meaning I haven’t started writing anything in it yet, but I am going through the second quarter and doing line edits and what not. And, though I said otherwise yesterday, I believe I’m going to put it on the market when I finish with this draft. I need to get some work out to the world at large.

I’ve got a third-ish of the quarter edited, and now it’s pretty much just a waiting game until I get to the end of the quarter. It’ll be a couple of days. I got up to Chapter 30, and the quarter covers Chapters 24-46, so I didn’t quite hit the third of the way mark. Now that I realize that, I think I’m going to go back and do two more Chapters. That will get me through to the third. Lol.

On another, probably less interesting note, I’ve not been walking this week. I got injured at work last Friday (one of the managers tried to drop a box on my head -.-), and was told to take it easy. Plus the walking was making my hip hurt worse. So, my streak is broken, but only for now. Starting Saturday, I’m back on the path, and I’m going to add two other things as well. Well, I’m going to try and add two other things. One of them is a little more personal than I’m willing to share here :P And, the other is this!

That’s right guys and girls. I’m going to try and make the blog a daily thing once again. It should be easy. Do the walk, the blog post, and my other task, one right after the other, and it will be just like walking out the door. Yay new habits. Lol.

Other than that, I think my new “hiatus” project is going to be a Star Trek fanfiction. Not the one I’m talking about over on HubPages. Nah, this one is The Black Hole’s Teeth, and as you can see from the fanfiction link, I’ve already published a few chapters.  So, if you like Star Trek, or if you like Star Wars, or if you like to see it when Star Trek kicks Star Wars’ ass, or maybe if you just like reading what I like, then you should stop by and see what’s up. Then follow it. Lol. (As a side note, like In the Morning Light, I’ll be posting this on deviatnArt as well. I’ll throw those links, and the FF.net links up on facebook, and my facebook page… which you should like if you haven’t already.)

Another thing I’m going to do is post some sample chapters on deviantArt. Probably just the first few chapters of each of the things I’ve written, and have typed so far. Well, maybe not the beginning chapters of all of them. Some of those chapters I really don’t like, and want to hide from the very face of the planet.

And, one final project that I’d like to talk about. I plan on taking the Star Trek fanfiction I’m writing, both the one mentioned above and the one mentioned on HubPages, and turning them into playable missions on Star Trek Online. So, if you’re a big nerd, come and play online with me :)

Ryan

PS: I also want to start my little audio book thing on Youtube soon. Not sure when that will happen. I guess you’ll just have to wait until the motivation hits me.

Peace out.

Cold Lunch Draft 2 project journal #16

Motorcycles

So, yesterday was a pretty lazy day, far beyond the sort of day I had on Monday. All I really had to do was worry about getting a few pages of Cold Lunch written, and laze around. I figured I might as well use one of my random topics for the bulk of this post.

Motorcycles.

They’re dangerous.

That said, they’re also cool as hell. I’ve never gotten to ride on or drive a motorcycle, but it’s something I really want to do. And, not just that, but I want to learn how to turn motorcycles and automotives into a hobby. I want to learn to work on them, rebuild engines, restore old cars, and maybe even do a little modification to them to make them go just a little bit faster.

As for how to go about that, I need money. Money I don’t have. (And, my wife isn’t too hot on the motorcycle idea.) So, what I’m looking to do at some point is hunt down a junked dirt bike, cruiser, or crotch rocket, that somebody’s willing to get rid of for next to nothing. Then take that junked bike and learn how to put it back together. Then, I could learn how to ride it. Get a license. All that fun stuff. And, when my book hits big, I can do a cross-country motorcycle book signing tour, just like Stephen King did a few years back.

Anyway, right now, all of that’s a pipe dream. Again with the money. (I’m thinking about putting a donate button here on the blog, let me know your thoughts on that. Lol.) So, whilst I try to find a way to make money, I’ll just have to Google pictures of motorcycles I currently can’t afford.

As for progress on Cold Lunch, I did much better today. I finished the scene I started last night, and I wrote another scene (I think I’m going to start shooting for a scene and a half a day, it’ll take longer to finish the project, but I don’t think the writing will wipe me out as much as it has been). Then I got both of those scenes typed. And, I’m considering another scene, but I’m trying my best not to give into that desire. I know it will just end badly for me.

Anywho, that’s all from me.

What do you think about motorcycles, and hobbies?

Ryan

Stats:

                Snowflake Completion: Done

                Pages Written Today: 3

                Pages Written Total: 28 1/2

                Pages Typed Today: 9

                Pages Typed Total: 49

                Word Count Today: 2,453

                Word Count Total: 13,455

As for advertisements… I got nothing. Have a good day.