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Living Room Redesign
With the arrival of R’lyeh last week (my very first Luftpost!), I was super-crunk to redecorate my living room. The pretty blue frame Verena/Jonas sent the picture in didn’t survive the Luftposting, but a quick trip to Ikea (where the original frame was from) would fix that. The picture was A4 size, though, and Ikea in the U.S. was like, “Here, have letter size.” No, I’m not going to cut a damn inch off the picture. “But, but, we have letter size!” Fine, then, a bigger frame it is. Add a black fabric backdrop, and I think it turned out quite well.
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Another Year Already?!
Okay, not “already”. 2011 was long as hell and busy. I resumed going to church fairly regularly. Had my perspective on interpersonal communications majorly shifted. Got married to a great fellow. Got a running partner. Made good progress on my novel. Learned how to incorporate a business. Paid off my student loans (!!!). Lost some weight. Got stronger, more fit, and resumed dancing. Made and held to some good financial plans. Blogged pretty regularly. Still feel like I only did about half of what I “should have”, of course, but I’m happy with the year, overall. I succeeded at most of what I wanted, I’m going to finish my last…
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Lonely Games Are (Kinda) Less Fun
I’ve resumed playing Galactic Civilizations II (GalCiv II), which I haven’t played since the olden days when the mornings were light and the afternoons long. Back in that long, long ago, I played on less-than-normal enemy intelligence and experimented with extending my reach through cultural influence and economic power. I read no manuals. I read no strategy guides. I micromanaged no economy. Why bother? The enemies were dumber than a box of rocks. Just play like it’s Civ 4, and be done. Returning to it, I (unsurprisingly) find myself wanting more challenge. I fired up an easy game and did a quick military conquest, my first. Not boring… exactly. But,…
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A New Home for Children: A Tri-Stat dX One-Shot
I had two hours to run a one-shot full of people who’ve never held dice outside of a Monopoly game. It started with the possibility of 7 players, but two had conflicts and one decided to just skip out. For some ungodly reason—when I thought I had 7 players—I picked Tri-Stat dX as the roleplaying system. I started a campaign in it a few years ago, and the flexibility of the system appealed for a high-powered fantasy game, like I was trying to do here. I wanted to play upon their interests in fashion, fame, and shiny things (and all the players were women), so I crafted a ladies-only party…
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Showing Support: Where’s the Money?
I find myself saying things like, “I support the alternative fuel (particularly electric) car movement. I’d love to test drive a Volt, or own a Prius. Some day, when they’re cheaper, I will.” (Or, in a variation: “No way would I pay $35k for a car, but I mos def support the move away from gasoline.”) But what’s the point of believing I support the direction of the industry (despite its flaws) if I’m not putting money into it to actually support it? It won’t go anywhere if people don’t spend money on the things. Fer skerious, though, there’s no way I’m spending $35k on a car. Not sure what…