• Uncategorized

    Star Wars RPG

    I never liked Star Wars. I thought the movies were lame — or rather, the characters in the movies were lame. The gritty universe was potentially interesting, but completely unexplored in the movies. By “movies”, I mean the original three and the first of the new ones with the kid Anakin. So when my local gamemaster suggested that we start a Star Wars game (using the old d6-based system, not the new d20 system), I was dubious. I was more than dubious. He convinced me that we would be playing in a “saga” (or era) where Skywalker and company wouldn’t be present. So I said I’d be up for trying…

  • On Life and Love

    Better Budget Challenge #1

    From “Better Budget Challenge #1 — Our budgeting experiences“: How have you used a budget in the past? I’ve tried budgeting with Excel spreadsheet templates when I was in college. Essentially, I would put in the amounts I felt I should spend per month so that my expenses would equal my income. It was a simple system. How did you put your budget to work? I don’t think I put it to work at all. It mostly existed for me to be more conscious my spending, even if it didn’t change my spending habits. I would tweak the category amounts in the budget as I spent money on what I…

  • On Life and Love

    Last Friday really teaching

    Surprisingly, a bit of a zen-like calm descended over me this morning as I was dressing for school. For the first time, I dressed down on a Friday, swapping my dress shirt for a sweatshirt. (I’m still wearing slacks and loafers, but hey.) Next week are finals. I’m only a little behind in my grading, so I should be done well before next Friday. My last day is officially January 22, 2008. That’s a teacher workday, so I can make sure I have all my stuff out of the room on that day. Whoever is replacing me should be setting up shop by then, hopefully. The end is near. Very…

  • On Life and Love

    Diversion of interests

    With the restful break from school, my mind found the energy to think of things unrelated to high school. Namely, finances and fitness, my two F’s on the report card of ’07. Wait, did I just say “things unrelated to high school”? Nevermind. Finances I wracked up a lot of credit card debt in the summer of ’07. Now, it’s nowhere near the $37, 000 that some had when they decided to turn things around, but it’s enough I’m like, “Really? No.” I don’t want to be my father, hiding from phone calls and cycling through credit cards. I still also owe around $25,000 on my student loans, and some…