atolnon

I didn't expect to do real well. My record for games was 1 and 2, but the 2 were very close. A play mistake lost me one game, but I was probably going to lose it anyhow. My deck would still require tweaking, if it was going to continue to get played, but there's a good chance it won't continue to operate in the form it's in. After tomorrow, I'm apt to scrap it.

I still had a good time, though. It's a kick to play people's creations with your own, and mine was absolutely a lot rougher in design then most other peoples. I won two packs (my record was technically 6-4, which put me square in the middle) and opened up some good stuff. i bought a few more since I was feeling good about my luck, and cracked a 25 dollar rare that I was actually buying from that set in hopes of getting. 

M10 pre-release tomorrow, and I'm going. Updates likely to come on Sunday, edited on to this page.

I do this very rarely. I've been juggling projects, so I feel like it might be good for me.

Active Projects:
Unnamed novel. - very rough draft, started
Unnamed Serial Experiments: Lain fiction - research, locating previous written work, layout, conceptual drafting
Tournament prep, R/G/B Standard - There's one Standard tournament, and I'm wanting to go. To that end, the deck is mostly finalized, but the project isn't over until I wrap it up or drop. 

Back-burner:
Layout for Dream, RPG - I just haven't done it. I'm rubbish with art, so I wanted to use some photos, but I've had to put those on the back burner as well until I fix my computer. Considering dropping all art, altogether. My concept for this is fragile. It's so generic that it's hard to associate art with it.
Structuring of NWoD Adventure - No real incentive. Just doing it for kicks. Briefly considered submission of project.
Exalted Game & Website - May move this up to an active project if the game looks like it'll become active again. Seems like a godd excuse to work on web design chops and writing.

Associated:
NExalted - Fan project that Brantai is working on. It's not even really for release, I don't guess, but if he finishes it, I suppose it may - may - be on a website. It's a game mashup. It's pretty wicked cool. He's busy and it's not really my vision, so I really only contribute when he brings it up. I don't think I'm currently associated with any other projects.

I've read a series of books this year. Maybe already 10 times what I read last year. If there's any interest at all, I might post a reading list. Allandros, from rpg.net, did on his LJ and it was interesting to me. I don't know how others feel. There were a bunch of books I borrowed though, and I can't remember all of those anymore. So I guess it's be a little sketchy.

No real reason for posting today. I just wanted to kind of write this out and see what I was really focusing on. I was going to limit it to paper journal, but I re-read and see these a little more and wanted to keep it in mind. It goes on LJ because this is my gaming-stuff and work blog. I mostly keep personal musing on Xanga, which I'm debating these days.

Shit yeah.

Because I've got a lot to do, instead of going to the tournament today (again), I've stayed home and naturally, I've spent it reading instead of working. Of course, why not? I have a hefty roster of books to move through, and I have been enjoying them. On Wednesday, I stopped in to Half-Price books, browsing its rather anemic Philosophy section. There was one bookcase near the door dedicated to it, next to the 4 or 5 cases touting used volumes of new-age religion. My theory : philosophers are not selling their books back and new age spirituality is overtaking philosophy. Both are likely to be true. There is nothing new about this at all.

I bought Ralph Steadman's "The Jokes Over : Ralph Steadman on Hunter S. Thompson" on a lark, because they did not have a bevy of Hunter's work for sale. I had to mosey on over to Barnes and Noble, where they tried to sell me a 20 dollar book card that gives me a discount. If I didn't buy something around 75% of my books from Half Price these days, I would of jumped on it. As it is, I still might. Even 25% is a hefty number. Who knows how many books I have read these last few months already?

Yesterday, I went to the draft tournament and went 2-2 with an absolute wreck of a deck. I placed something like 12th out of 16, only saving my last two games because I was playing against a couple of teenage megalomaniacs with vacent eyes and awful voices. "What." I thought. "It looks like their mother dressed them." and I think she might of. I saw her later, beaten and terrible, with a bent nose and a small stick that she beat those boys about the heads and shoulders with. What a terrible life they must lead, and that is where they must of picked up their terrible habits. I had to denounce one in front of the store when he attempted to cheat for the third or fourth time.

"No!" I shouted. He looked genuinely shocked. Nobody up till now had commented. I felt bad, but I didn't know what else to do. Explaining calmly hadn't worked, and besides knocking him about, I couldn't think of any better way to stop him from doing whatever he please, short of asking him to be ejected from the store. "Better a battered ego" I thought "then outright rejection. He will get over this." But he still lost.

Next Friday is the last Standard tournament that my deck will be able to be registered for. I have not gotten to play (and lose) with it in any sanctioned format as of yet, and I want to do it before next Saturday's pre-release, so I am strongly thinking about attending over my regular duties. This is long and awful, so I will cut it for you. You don't need this crap plugging up your friends list. It is bad enough I post so much as it is, I understand.
( Magic Crap below the cut. )

This is gonna be real short, but I saw something that pissed me off today.
Ok, look, I'm not religious. I don't really care about divinity anymore, except where its narrative suits my purposes, and I kind of like some religions basically for the show they put on. That is all I get out of it. Others get more, and others feel harmed by it. 

It takes all kinds, that's all. I can't express that feeling enough. I hope I didn't offend anyone on this one. Anyway.

I guess you could say I became very cross on behalf of the religious people I know, though. Xanga has a large evangelical base, I think. The semi-news-feed that it produces includes something called 'revelife'* where a Xanga poster opines about religion and then asks a question at the end. I guess it's designed to prompt posts. Anyway, this weeks question is 'Are Mormons Christians?', which is, I guess, spurred by the fact that the poster was raised that they were not, based on doctrinal differences but probably more along the lines of 'I was told by my factionalized, hyper-reactionary branch of faith that anyone who's not us isn't Christian.'

Ugh. I ended up writing a lot, and I said I was gonna keep it short. Basically, after actually meeting and talking to a Mormon, there didn't seem to be a huge gulf between their faith. The major doctrinal difference was limited primarily to how they viewed the Trinity (like so many desputes seem to be, this always tickles me as well as fascinating me). So, it's not the question that gets me. It seemed to be asking in good faith - except it isn't. It isn't a wayward soul honestly seeking guidance, it's a person who is deliberetly trying to stoke a debate, but anyhow. Maybe that's not too bad. It's the replies that get me. Oh man, the replies.

People, why you gotta be hatin' on each other? PickWick12 says "Mormons are some of the loveliest people in this country, but good morals do not save you." Well, fuck me. Oeshpdog2 says "If they were Christians...they would not be called Mormons. " Hey, you better inform the fucking Presbyterians and the Baptists, asshole. Sam707 said "A Yale Professor named Harold Bloom claims that their roots are more true to ancient gnosticsm rather then Christianity. I was pretty convinced by his argument. " Not convinced enough to learn anything about religion, though. a_single_raindrop opined "I would have to say no. ... I wasn't able to quite understand their beliefs though" Better make a snap judgement then!

If we weren't so ready to kick people out of our tribe, we'd probably get into less petty fights. Religion is a big deal for people, but people fight over this shit. Basically, if you don't know shit about it, you don't get to tell someone else how they view themselves. If you can't explain anything about religious doctrine, you don't get to tell them they're not Christian. End of line. The same goes for everything.

YOU WILL ALL PLAY NICE OR BY GOD I WILL TURN THIS CAR AROUND

* Its capitalization, not mine.
EDIT: This was not short at all. This is why we can't have nice things.

I really want to write fan fiction for Serial Experiments: Lain. A long time ago, now, I played in a play-by-post set in that world, and I promise you that wasn't real easy. SE: Lain doesn't make for easy work, and I know I sweated trying to address the themes of the show with the character I played then. The show initially ran in 1998, and it addressed themes like self-identity and the nature of reality, while portraying an isolated girl and her relationship with her friends. The show was oddly paced, information-heavy, dense, but became a cult favorite for its good-faith effort, moody, surreal atmosphere, and the emotions it evoked.

My initial exposure to the series was a picture of Lain on the internet which spent some time as a desktop background. Later, I found a VHS cassette in my local game shop with a picture on the front that had the same character. Intrigued, I Google'd the name of the show. It had already been in existance for several years at that point, so it wasn't too tough to find information on. At the time, the internet was still heavily laden with anime 'shrines' and fan sites, so I skipped between several in an attempt to dig up information before I was able to get the DVDs for my birthday and Christmas. I was unsure of what to make of the results.

After so long, I wanted to revisit the game I played. It was a very meta feeling, because I was younger then, and the show hit its decade-in-existance point sometime last year. I didn't want to just investigate the show's themes, but I wanted to go back to what we had done several years ago, and tie those together and frame them in a new light for now. The show dealt with one series of themes and used a fairly standard information dump from various scientific sources. I, myself, wanted to go a different route. While the show brought in research about altered conciousness, alien crashes, and MMOs and shooters, I wanted to investigate the feeling of being watched, Foucalt's Disipline and Punish, Bentham's Panopticon, Fear and Loathing, and a desire to escape and understand the world around us. These days, I don't have the unregulated free time I used to. I haven't went out and pulled the books and movies I need to. So, there's laziness. On the other hand, I keep wondering if it's worthwhile to spend so much time on fan fiction.

I guess it's just using fiction as a vehicle for my own research though. Which is why I'm spending time on it these days.

It's about time I developed those two tags. I'm surprised it took this long.

Bernie Madoff got 150 years.

Dude is 70+ years, so nobody is fooling nobody; he is going to serve some time and get out or he will die, and this is going to speed that process along.

On one hand, I am glad the sucker got his due. The lawyers tried to play the 'but he feels bad' card and the 'but he's old' cards, and neither went, and cry me a fucking river. At this point the amount he extorted is a figure of legend. It was the mightiest of all Ponzie schemes. And I am glad, but that joy is a cancerous one. It is a hollow happiness. It is fundamentally false.

Bernie Madoff is the goat tied to the stake so the wolves get fed. He was old and sick, anyhow. He had made enemies of the rich and powerful, so an example was made. This is not just a statement on the nature of our justice system, which is separate for the rich and for the poor and it is not a statement on our economic system which I speak about often. Both of these are major issues with our society today, but what I'm talking about are our circuses, which determine, every now and again, to sacrifice one of their own number so that the masses are appeased.

Select amoung you the most onerous of your numbers that we may make of him our bread.

So we devour him. We sentence Mr. Madoff to 150 years that don't matter. The public feels no shame in its outrage, because Madoff had wounded them, too. But more honestly, we must realize that Madoff is only a symbol. When he is imprisoned, we feel justice has been done when it has not. Sure, Madoff ripped us off, but his real crime was in getting caught with his hand in the jar. The real reason we feel such a sick satisfaction in Madoff's sentence isn't because we care if he suffers it, but we like to imagine that it is the same sentence being levied out across the board by everyone who has every garnished our wages, cheated us out of our due, paid us too little, bankrupted us when we got tried to use our health insurance, or fired us when we had to take time off of work when ill. Madoff is of that class that we, as members of what we consider to be the working or middle class, loathe because that class perpetuates a system that we subconciously recognize and also detest.

When we see the hangdog look on Madoffs face, we think 'We finally got one!', but we don't expect to win. We know we're being cheated. Our hunger is the hunger of those who are starved for what we percieve to be as justice. But it is also hollow, because it means nothing. And we real no regret because nothing has really been done. It doesn't matter at all. Better to feel a sickning joy then a hollow nothing.

I felt like pulled a little too thin when I got off work today, so I settled in for a quiet night with a shower, eating some ice cream, and buying about 15 dollars worth of grab-bag material off a website for causal Magic decks. Things being what they are, I'm unlikely to do anything else productive tonight. Everything I got was just fun shit. Cheap, casual, and fun. Basically, if I'm going to blow a little cash on something like this, it's one of the perfect selections. I'm excited about getting my cardboard in the mail.

As long as I was online, I figured 'what the hell'. Someone at the game shop had encouraged me to invest in playing Vintage, which is just a Magic format that uses every set instead of the most recent ones. In the past, I played this format because I tended to buy newer packs and trade them when their value was at their highest for cards from older sets whose value were still accruing. In this way, I never acquired the most expensive cards, but I did get a substantial body of what you would consider 'must plays'. If you play Black, you must play Demonic Tutor. If you play Blue, you are running 4 Force of Will. Since I'm getting back into the game, I briefly considered pricing some of these must haves. Back in the day, I had a deck that would run these cards to good effect. I look at the price of Force of Will now and realize that I can get four beat up copies for just over a hundred dollars.

Swell. There is no way I am about to drop a hundred dollars on four cards right now, regardless of my love for the game.
The real shame is I had no idea how much the prices on these cards had gone up. I had traded for them specifically for that reason, but basically I would say that the value of that stolen binder has doubled by now. If I had it today and sold its contents online, I could probably pay off most of the rest of my car. (frowny face)

Well, such is life, right? I only killed about 10 minutes doing that, so it's not worth fretting about, but it is an interesting consideration. I hope the guy that stole those cards had the good sense to hold on to them and sell them now. You know what I bet, though? They got stole at Archon, so I bet the goon that did it played them without sleeves and they're all wrecked today. XD It's serve that person right!

I'm in desperate need of a haircut and a new wardrobe, but I'm going to have to settle for the former since I 'm short on paychecks this month. Things are going to pick right up starting July 1, though, meaning that I'm actually way ahead. It's a tough call between buying new clothing and paying more money off on the car, so I'll probably settle for some clothing I really like and then split the difference.  Tomorrow morning is hair cut day, and to beat traffic, I'm going into Issaquah for the game way early. I'm planning on maybe having lunch out then taking photos. I think I'm starting to get a decent eye, so I'm really looking forward to the practice.

In addition : Oh, I didn't realize I already had a photography tag. Neat.
Part 2 : Reading this over real quick, I noted that I never found out who stole my stuff, so I purposely tried to avoid assigning a gender to the thief. Obviously I slipped, though, because in the sentence right before I refer to said thief as 'guy'. So, there's your assumption of a male when no gender is known for ya.

This is originally the subject I wanted to post about, and I guess I got distracted and forgot. That's what happens when I post at work; such is life.

When I originally got the WoD Corebook, I loved it. Interestingly, I felt like the supernatural was portrayed as being almost common but any kind of cohesive organization was vanishingly rare. I don't recall any specific places where this was said, or anything, but this is the impression that I've carried with me since I first picked up a NWoD book. It's a setting that I really can't call 'new' anymore, but it's taken me a long time to revise my concept of what the gameworld was like.

( Cut to save space, since I've got too many of these up lately.  )

My weekend was not terribly exciting, but it was pleasant and that was all I feel I can really ask for. Yesterday I flipped cards pretty successfully. Successfully enough, at any rate, to consider my deck not terrible and to earn some packs at the tournament I played in. Friday was spent largely cleaning, though that was broken up by two Mormons for about 15 minutes. The first thing I did, of course, is what I do for anyone who knocks on my door; I asked them if they wanted a cup of coffee. I think the minor inconvenience dealt them by my temporarily forgetting their dietary restrictions is partially balanced out by the fact that they cold-knocked me on a Friday afternoon inquiring about my spiritual well-being, but they were kind enough to ignore that I had said anything at all.

I think the poor fellows really were puzzled by how cheerfully bleak my worldview has become. I forget, on occasion, that this is an issue for other people. I don't bring it up in casual conversation. There isn't any need for being edgy, I haven't come to my conclusions with the intent of shocking or depressing others. It doesn't make for good party chat. It is, in any case, irrelevant. But they asked, so I told them.

They left me no literature except a picture of Jesus on a throne and a phone number promising a free DVD. Didn't they used to hand out their book? I guess a phone number is lighter then a sack 'o texts.

I'm through with working strenuously on Magic for a while, content to allow the bulk of my focus to shift to other issues and addressing Magic primarily through actually just playing it. The deck does require tweaks, and it'll get them, but the majority of my work is, I feel, finished. I considered what I ought to be doing. What I suspect is that I'll muck about with various things until I hit on one that I'm interested in engaging. That's what happened with the deck, and for a while, that's what sucked in my attention.

Friday isn't a weekend day, I know. It's my day off, though, so it counts for me. The RP session got canceled because our GM is basically going to be stuck at work (which is a bummer for us and him, incidentally), so instead, Brent, Val, and I are going to check out a pub based on the roll of a die. I don't recall the name of the place, but I checked out the beer selection and the menu, and it looks really good based off that. 

Friday's also the day that I take care of boring stuff that needs to be done, like laundry and cleaning. Like I said, it's not exciting, but it makes me feel better for the rest of the week and lets me go into Saturday without having to mess with it at all. Because I expect to head over to Uncle's Games around noon for Magic, I can appreciate that.

I got my cards in the mail, and made some tweaks to my Standard deck - everything under the cut won't make any real sense unless you play. Why am I posting it? For fun, I guess. =)

( M:tG )

Additional  Info:
Just came back from a trip to Uncle's for some test games. I didn't get to run it up against any Standard decks, but it plays smoothly and consistently. The person I played with recommended switching the Mold out for 3 more Rain of Tears. After running it, it seems like it might be a good idea.

Bought a small series of Magic cards online that I'd had a difficult time finding. The deck I'm playing now is a bit rubbish, but I'm really excited to see how it'll run once I get the new tech in for it.  Until I do, though, I get to set the cards aside and focus on some other stuff. It's not uncommon for me to have a few things I do at once, but I tend to obsess a bit, which doesn't actually lead to an increase in the quality of my work so it's a moot point.

I woke up feeling shitty, and it took some effort to get out of bed. Not wanting to talk to anyone doesn't bode well for a job in customer service, but I can't really afford to take time off and still accomplish the financial goals I've set for myself, so off I go. I've been getting more sleep lately, but I haven't been eating right, so I made sure I went off to the grocery today.

I've been spending more time on the internet then I want to, so aside from jotting my thoughts on occasion or a few other things which I actually need to do, I'm more or less taking some time off from it again. I was more productive and felt like I had more time before I spent my evenings on the glowing box, and I've just been defaulting to hanging out on forums by inertia.

There are several projects on the books. I haven't decided what my next one is. I'm cleaning house today, so plenty of think time.

Magic has been my number one current hobby at the moment, taking up the bulk of my non-work time which, because of my hours, is in a little bit of a short supply. If you play this game, you get a feel for the decks you play, and my Standard deck is rubbish at the moment (not to mention not even being entirely composed). The problem is the mana curve and the fact that I spend several turns doing absolutely nothing before anything happens. By that time, it's too late.

Here's what it looks like under the cut on the chance that you follow Magic.

( G/R/B Land Destruction )

( The perscription? More cowbell. )

Work was busy yesterday, to my chagrin. I didn't approve at all. Most of the helpdesk called off work for one reason or another and I ended up stuck fielding the bulk of the call ins with whoever else actually came in. I computed Atol's exp, and I'm working on hammering out conceptual stats, meaning I'm probably bringing books into work again today. I also have to pay bills, which is a drag, but I've been good and stuck to my budget despite being sorely tempted to blow it out of the water.

I had kind of an unusual weekend in that nothing really went as I expected it to, but things seemed to have worked out ok for me anyhow. I went into it totally disorganized and came out ship-shape. Moreover, as things were winding down last night, I managed to put together the last few bits that really make going into the work week manageable. A thanks to writer_lynn, who was at least able to let me know where I stand re: prestige, and now I get to dick around with assigning dots to, really, just whatever. 

I've been up and down the Cam version of WoD at this point, and I'm well aware of the points of view that I've heard expressed regarding the reset, experience for membership class, et al, ect, ect. It's not that other people are wrong, it's just that the doling out of post-reset experience makes me happy. I understand the reasons for having such high loadouts for experienced characters in the setting, and why MC grants exp at all, but I always really thought that the amount of experience points found on characters bordered on rediculous, not to mention the powergap, which was always monumental. That's mitigated somewhat now. My personal feelings are that experienced players do fine regardless, plus often know exactly what they want to do with their points anyhow. That the gulf is smaller between MCs is a boon because it rewards longevity in the organization over longevity in the setting less then it used to. Something about that seems right to me.

Smaller exp. totals is also more manageable from a ST side, as far as I can tell. In Mage, when you've got multiple multiple-Masters, there's very little you can's just 'Death 5/Life 5/Time 5/ect.' away. The power level becomes, I believe, almost exponential one-on-one, though just like always, multiple people are always going to be able to drag you down should they decide to. Ces't ca la vive. There's nothing different now from then, it's just a little easier, is all.

Got to visit Mt. Rainer yesterday. Cool, partially cloudy weather highlighted some pretty excellent views. We got to do a little walking, but most trails either seemed snowed at the beginning or, in one case, blocked partway through. The sign that indicated we ought to bring an ice axe was particularly telling.

I got a few shots of the trail and a view through the trees, making me glad I had brought my camera. Doing anything about it is going to have to wait, though, since I still need to flatten and reload my machine. The real issue with that is that I don't have hardly any of my software disks, so I'd want to have some of those mailed up, even. I should of thought ahead.

I had a long night up; my morning meeting is canceled this week so I don't feel a striking need to come in early today and spent all night trying to convince friends from St Louis to move to Seattle* and looking for new music. I also drank more then I expected, which means I don't have much for tonights dinner. That's what I get for not paying attention though.

While functionally wasting my time, I contemplated that I've got my time pretty well occupied in general lately. I'm pretty stoked about that, because it also means I'm getting out more which I'm pretty sure I need to do. I spent about 6 months after I started up here a little cooped up, which isn't to say that was bad. I needed my solitude, but whatever. I'm engaged with my hobbies again and spending a lot of effort on them.

One thought lead to another, and I was thinking that taking your hobbies seriously is a good thing. Hobbies are one of our ways of interacting with the world, kind of a specialized way, but something where we select something and get to learn about it. I think people should take the time to figure out what it is that makes things tick, which is one of the reasons why I'm so interested in critical literature theory. Breaking down game systems or observing gamer groups are other parts of this, but I've drawn a pretty narrow focus. Just the other day I wrote a few pages on media tone in American news after the shooting of Dr. Tiller. While it's a morbid subject (I feel that the shooting is a symptom, not a cause, of a violence-promoting media-subset), I wouldn't have spent two hours looking up information, citing it, writing it and posting it if it didn't do something for me. It wasn't fun in the normal way, but essays and writing are passions of mine. If you're a computer geek, and I know some of you are, you take computer hardware or software seriously.

But when we're asked what we do, do you answer with your job or your hobbies? If it's just what you do, and not 'where you work'. Most of the people I've talked to will answer with their job, and I guess that's their public facade. Or maybe they're just really passionate about their work. That's what we're obligated to do, but I think what we choose to devote our time and effort to is more telling.

* So close!

I've got a nice little digital camera that I've used before. Got it for Christmas in what was easily the most thoughtful Christmas present I've gotten in years from my parents, and it beats the hell out of my cell phone. It came with photo manager software that I only used because it was the only way that I could really get my computer to recognize the camera and allow me access to it. The camera gets recognized, but nothing lets me access it. I went to Control Panel and selected Scanners and Cameras, but the disk provided doesn't have driver information for the camera and the computer doesn't have 'EasyShare' on the list, nor any of the model numbers associated with the device.

So, I reckon I'll use Kodak's software, but for some reason these days, it gets past the startup screen then closes without an error. Every single time. I've fixed it, uninstalled and reinstalled it, obviously I've rebooted, I've checked to make sure that the firewall isn't fucking with it. Just nothing works, and my camera is basically just junk.

Sigh. I'll try again tomorrow, it's getting late.

I blew my weekend off to do whatever, and if you've got lots of things you want to accomplish, then I recommend it. The actual details of 'how' involve a stack of aluminum cans and a daunting amount of stacked cardboard which can be followed by checking the linked entry on my Facebook. It's true that I enjoy finding new ways to repeat myself, but I assume you wouldn't get anything out of that.

While it remains to be seen if I'll actually have the time to keep up with this kind of thing, I renewed my Cam membership (I hadn't actually realized it lapsed, but the point was moot) in the hopes of maybe playing the same old character or branching out. I feel like I have a few ideas I could bring to Requiem that'd be fun and I'm juggling concepts for Mage. There's something about that prick Atol that makes me want to return to his character, but I've had several concepts that keep popping up. Many of them seem surprisingly mundane, like I can't get past playing someone who was really steeped in being normal and things just became progressively weird about everything else.

Since I signed back up, I need to bring Atol back though, if only because I don't feel like he ever really got a resolution. Without going into it forever, he started off as a terrible character (not a bad person, just kind of two dimensional) and got better. Then I turned into a terrible player, which is something I've got my reasons for, anyway.

So yeah, I've sent out some messages, because my copy of my prestige is hopelessly corrupt and won't open. I had backed it up, but it seems I backed it up post-corruption, so that doesn't seem to do me any good. It was probably out of date, anyway. Without it, I don't have a record of any MC, which is tangenital, but irritating. If the VST Coordinator/Mage VST doesn't have records of it somewhere, I might have to bug Stephanie, who certainly isn't obligated to worry about it anymore, anyhow. It would be kind of funny to have this character from 2006 without any recorded playtime. My information in the CRD was very accurate until the reset, at which point I rely on it to have exactly nothing more then my starting point-buy. Even that doesn't look accurate to my recollections. 

I got a package from my father and picked up my booster box on Friday showering with years of collected bits of cardboard that I'm surprisingly excited about. I haven't felt this excited about Magic since before college.

I wanted to put together a soundtrack and kind of get a sure feel for a character before bringing hm back in any capacity.
So far, this is what I've been thinking.

Boards of Canada - The Devil is in the Details.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMmuV2UnvpE&feature=PlayList&p=E02616C01C88C937&index=0
Boards of Canada - Under the Coke Sign
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhxrFsoao9k&feature=PlayList&p=838A92991524FD7C&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=25

Modest Mouse - Dark Center of the Universe
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmRnfw0qBow

David Bowie - Andy Warhol
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNYRw3HwhRQ
Bonus clip - Andy Warhol eats a hamburger.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pdn6wrM1Hqw&feature=fvw

The Flaming Lips - In the Morning of the Magicians
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhHiQr2OdKE (I don't like this cover as much, but it has vocals.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvsT4AKGQR8 (I like this one a lot, but no vocals, obviously.)

Radiohead - Videotape
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kCKob1YKOU
Radiohead - How to Disappear Completely
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eq9t2FFh6LA&feature=related
Bonus track - Defunct Hardware - Nude
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOswq2P-pAs

I botched the Friday game by not bringing character sheets, and what lead from that is kind of a summary of my weekend. Nothing quite went right, but it wasn't entirely terrible anyway, somehow. I had a good idea of what was on the character sheets, so I just resolved to play it a little fast and loose, but it was hard to get people's attention without the sheets. After all, without stats, you're just sitting around a table with a lot of beer.

Saturday was pretty nice, but the giant yard sale was a bust for me. I'm picky about furniture that I buy even for really cheap and I didn't bring cash, I brought checks, and after some debate, I never even bothered to ask people if they'd take personal checks. Nothing really stood out as a good idea to purchase, so I just didn't. I have to say that the Belgian pub we went to later was more successful.

Anyway, after that, all I really did was clean. I'm thinking about just not posting Exalted stuff on the journal anymore since I think of the people that do read this, Brent is the only person who plays it, and I talk to him about it all the friggin' time. Part of why I was running kind of weak games is that I don't have a cohesive idea of what I'm playing with, which is a problem with most fantasy settings, anyway. I actually need some kind of philosophical underpinning of how the universe works, and all I was doing was messing around with tropes and getting the goal of the game confused, which explains why I can spend hours prepairing and still have a shit game at the end of it.

It's no big. Game's on hiatus anyway.

I had what I thought was a great idea for a post, but it was getting past noon and I had errands to run, so I decided it had to wait. After getting surprisingly lost about 100 feet from where I live<1>, I managed to get home with the assistance of my cell phone GPS. After spending a bunch of money on this thing, which I didn't really want to buy but you can't not vacuum, it comes out of the box in pieces like I'm supposed to assemble it. 

The last thing I really want to do after buying this shit is pull out a small, opaque back that rattle like screws. What the fuck? I'm buying a Hoover, not a goddamn build-it-yourself kit. I didn't spend eighty bucks on fucking Tinkertoys but here I am, trying to insert tab A into slot motherfucking B.<2> So now, I've got a dirty floor, a bunch of styrofoam, and about five seperate pieces of vacuum. I don't remember the totality of what I was originally going to post anymore. Instead, I am mad at the manufacturing world. I don't care how great they are, I don't want additional tubes or hoses, I am not interested in anything that revolves, spins, induces nuclear fusion, reactors, dusters, magnates, lasers, or anything that extends anywhere.<3> These things are fine on their own, I'm sure, but I just don't give a shit. Why do I have a feather duster? I don't want it. It comes with an instruction manual that says 'Use a Phillips Screwdriver'. I'm just like, 'Fuck, I don't have any screwdrivers at all. What the hell?' Anyway, Solars.

I was thinking about Solars while doing my shaving and basically came to the conclusion that they're bound to fail. Not really because of the Deathlords, or the Yozi<4>, or the Bronze faction or whatever, but because they're not made to rule Creation. They're just weaponized mortals. This is no surprise; mortals were just prayer-generating machines for the Yozi after they built Creation. So, maybe they're amazingly powerful weapons, astounding weapons, versitile weapons, but that's it. It's why Solars were number one after the Incarna kicked off to play the Games of Divinity after they knocked off the Yozi - because they're the most powerful. Arguably, they're not even really the best at running things of the Exalts, but they can kick the most ass, so there it is.

Cosmologically, it's why all the Solars basically try to solve their problems by murdering things until they go away. That's basically what they do. When they use social charms, they're forcing people by dint of what is effectively mind control, which is just social coercion instead of physical. When Exalts are in charge, what they're doing is fighting social situations instead of governing in any real sense, which is why the 1st Age crumbled.

In order to be successful on the second go round, the Solars have to come to terms with their modifications but they can't effectively rule. They don't make good rulers, just powerful ones.

Now, functionally, that's not going to happen and that's also not because of outside influences so much. It's because they're not The Solars, they're a bunch of Solars that each have seperate goals that are not the same. They'll just end up fighting the shit out of each other, in a more high-powered version of the Shogunate.

<1> Fuck you, Bellevue.
<2> Yes, ok, 'that's what she said'. If I go to IKEA, I promise not to make that joke again.
<3> See <2> above.
<4> One Solar, two Solars. One Yozi, two Yozi, all the Yozi, that Yozi over there, you get the idea.

I dunno about this new layout.