Sick and Exhausted

So the last two weeks have been full, but not of awesome things I mist admit.
That's right blogosphere, I've been unpleasantly sick for the last two weeks. It has been decidedly un-fun, especially since I have missed NO work (despite my best judgment) and only missed one class session (history, last Friday). Course, since I've been making a concerted effort not to miss class, I've been skimping on all the other aspects of my life, like comic-drawing and writing and fun. I've been trying mostly to sleep off the sick (don't fear bloggers, it wasn't H1N1, I promise) and nurse myself and John back to health (we've both been sick and miserable. What lovely company we must have been for our friends).

I am feeling better though, so I'm dropping in to say hello world, and that once I'm feeling better and more well-rested, I'll be back to blogging a little more regularly.

So, upcoming things I want to post about:

1. My early birthday present
2. Cheap D&D books
3. Thinking about starting a cooking blog for poor college students
4. New developments in my gaming circle

And so on. I'm going to spend the rest of my Saturday watching random TV, studying for Latin (I have sentences to translate), baking tasty bread (it's my new hobby; going to my parent's house and invading their kitchen with bread-baking) and then going home to watch a movie with John <3.

More later! have a nice weekend kids!

Coming Your Way in November...

That's my novel for NaNoWriMo. With a shiny banner I made. Because that's what I do at work instead of study... make shiny banners.

First week went well, now on to week two (huzzah). I just checked my film assignment for tomorrow and it looks like I have an inhuman amount of reading to get through - at least 40 pages, probably much, much more. Also need to look over my latin again, as I have verb forms to memorize for our quiz today:

The Present Active Indicative Conjunctions for Vocō and Moveō:

Singular:

Vocō

Vocās

Vocat

Plural:

Vocāmus

Vocātis

Vocant

Singular:

Moveō

Movēs

Movet

Plural:

Movēmus

Movētis

Movent

So that's the stuff I need for class today.

I also work twice today - once now until noon, then again at 8 until midnight. Yeah, I'm already loathing Mondays. I'll most likely be scurrying home between Latin and work to squeeze a nap in. I should probably read my film articles NOW so I don't have to worry about them later... Though I make no promises.

Holy Crap, I'm a Senior

Today, the new semester begins. I've been anticipating it for a while, mostly out of total boredom. So today it's finally here. And now I'm posting my schedule up here, because I can.

MONDAY

Work - Library: 9:00am - 12:00pm
History - Fascism in Europe: 1:30pm - 2:20pm
Elementary Latin: 2:30 - 3:20pm
Work - Lounge: 8:00pm - 12:00am

TUESDAY

English - Film Theory: 9:30am-10:45am
Latin: 2:30pm - 3:45pm
Work - Lounge: 5pm-9pm

WEDNESDAY

Work - Library: 9:00am - 12:00pm
History: 1:30pm-2:20pm
Work-Lounge: 5:00pm - 9:00pm

THURSDAY

English: 9:3o-10:45am
Work - Library: 11:00am - 2:00 pm
Latin: 2:30pm - 3:45pm
Personal Defense: 6:00pm-9:00pm (starting October, ending November)

FRIDAY

Work - Library: 10:00am - 12:00pm
History: 1:30pm-2:20pm
Latin: 2:30pm-3:20pm

That's 12 hours of class, and 27 hours of work.

I'm going to be busy.

Gonna try to keep the comic up of course. And I'm going to try to do this and NaNoWriMo in November, so wish me luck!

Another 40 minutes left at work today; then I'm gonna curl up somewhere in the Union, eat my sandwich and watch True Blood. Then, off to class! Today is my most difficult day, since I work until past midnight, but I have a break, so I should have plenty of time to rest. So that's my plan! Class, nap, dinner, studying, work. Huzzah!

On Laziness and TV

Somehow the last two weeks have been so busy or so crazy that I haven't been able to finish my Tales from Comic-Con segment, but if it helps, it wasn't very interesting anyway. Not after three weeks of being back.

And things have been a little crazy; I'll get a proper update in time, but for now, I'll tell you about the TV I've been catching up on lately.

I watch a lot of TV at work, not having much else to do in the downtime between pull lists and scanning. So I've been catching up on some of the same TV shows as before (Bones, True Blood, Castle), and discovering some new ones, and new-old ones.
The first one is Warehouse 13, a funny little show from the 'Syfy' channel about a pair of secret service agents who are sent to work in 'America's Attic', the place where the government dumps any and all inflammatory items that need to be taken away from the general public. It's sort of Indiana Jones meets the X-Files, but funnier. It airs every Tuesday, so I've been catching it on Wednesdays on my Hulu feed.
The second one I've discovered new is Defying Gravity, a show about a team of astronauts experiencing strange phenomena on the science station they are touring around the solar system. It's very drama-filled, all the characters have a backstory that is revealed slowly as the show progresses, and there are still a ton of mysteries left to be told. I'll be catching this one on Monday mornings after it shows on Sunday nights.
The other show I've discovered proves that I'm at minimum a grand total of five years behind the times.

Lost.

That's right; I finally started watching Lost, after it was released 5 years ago. Go me; I'm so hideously behind it hurts. But I'm enjoying season one, which is available for free on Hulu. So I'm watching that in-between any new episodes of other TV shows I'm watching.

So that's that. I'm off to watch more Lost and have my lunch break at noon. Then just work until five. Huzzah!

More blogging later, I promise. :)

Comic-Con 2009: Part Two; Preview night, Thursday and Friday

I apologize for the delay between posts; work actually got busy this week and I got sucked in to DMing a little for John and Chris (more on that in a later post). So here we are; part two of my Comic-Con report.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 22nd

We took John's mom out to lunch at Chevy's today, since it was her birthday and we also wanted to thank her for putting us up for the week (because seriously, she saved us a good $1500 dollars that we would have had to spend on hotel rooms for the week we were out there). Then we hit up preview night; Sam and Tim and I took the trolley because parking in downtown San Diego was a NO. A big, loud, stinky no. So we got into the convention hall a little later than the other three (who got a ride with John's mom, who was nice enough to drive us around, as we were minus a car at this point), but we all met up and went nuts wandering around. Sam made a beeline for the Square Enix booth (she's a huge fan of Final Fantasy XII) to buy character figurines, and Judy and I wandered around looking at various booths and shopping for goodies. I found booth 1230, where all my favorite webcomic artists were chilling out. So I got some awesome sketches, bought some books, and picked up an awesome t-shirt at The Devil's Panties booth.


Totally sweet shirt.
My other major purchase was this little guy, who was limited edition (and also about $10 cheaper at the con :3). He works like a dream and comfortably holds 4 GB.
Judy and I also found the booth for The Guild, and we made twits of ourselves in front of the whole cast by accidentally jumping the line (which we didn't even know existed). So yeah. Made a twit of myself in front of Felicia day. Go me. :3

But all was well, and everyone left happy that night, bags full of shiny swag. We grabbed some sleep and got ready for Thursday; the official start of the con.

THURSDAY, JULY 23rd

Another ride on the trolley brought us to the Gaslamp district, where Sam and I scurried away to grab breakfast at an adorable little bakery with really tasty baguettes and yummy cheese. Then I got back to more wandering around the exhibit hall and doing some more shopping, so of course by the time lunch rolled around my feet hurt like hell and I was ready to sit down. I had a panel at 5-ish; Legend of the Seeker (I wasn't gonna make it into Hall H to see Terry Gilliam, much to my disappointment), so I lined up for room 6DE and got in two panels early. So I got to sit through the Spotlight on Geoff Johns, as well as a panel about breaking into Marvel Comics. The legend of the Seeker panel was really good; I got my book signed by Terry Goodkind, who is scary-looking:


That's him on the right. He looks really scary, but was so nice when he signed my book.

So that was Thursday for me; good fun, then we headed back to the house and enjoyed a movie (Serenity). A good first "official" day at the con.

FRIDAY JULY 24th

Up early again, but I missed my early panel (The Guild Panel) because we got lost trying to get to the Interstate. Go us. So we went to get breakfast at this little place called the Cheese Shop (where Sam and I got these sweet liter bottles of mexican coke, which I managed to bring home with me too), then Tim and I got in line for Ballroom 20 and the Bones panel. The panel started at 3pm. Tim and I were in line by about 11:15 AM. We got into Ballroom 20 by 1 PM, which was in time for the Big Bang Theory Panel, which was excellent. I catch the show on occasion, so it was cool to hear the actors talk about the season. After that was the 24 panel. I don't really watch 24, but it was still cool to see Keifer Sutherland and Freddy Prinze Jr. up there.
The Bones panel was disappointing, but only because David Boreanaz couldn't make it; he was up in LA with his wife, who was dealing with pregnancy issues. So it was understandable, but still a major bummer. Tim didn't get to ask his question, and he left when it was over. Judy came to join me for the Dollhouse panel, and we had a major squee-fest when they aired the 13th episode, Epitaph one, which was fantastic. And then the Q&A was great, because the actors who play Topher and Sierra showed up to sit and discuss things with Eliza Dushku and Joss whedon.

So that was Friday. I was in Ballroom 20 for a grand total of five hours, and I was glad to get out of there, believe me.

So thats the first three days of the con. Next post will be about Saturday, Sunday and the drive home. :) And sorry for the lack of pictures; the only one I posted here took fifteen minutes to upload because the wireless at my parents' house is a bit buggy. If I can I'll edit and add some pictures later.

Comic-Con 2009: Part One; The Roadtrip Out

Because my trip to comic-con was so very epic, I'm going to have to divide this post up into several parts, if only to save the eyes of my poor readers. So here we go; the Comic-Con trip: Post #1.

MONDAY, JULY 20th

Wake-up time was 5:00 AM, though we did wake up at 2:30 initially because Evan (who had decided not to sleep the night before for some reason) began to burn the biscuits he was baking, causing the smoke detector to go off. So yeah, sleep was decidedly minimal that night.
But anyway, 5 AM rolled around, we gathered our things, retrieved Judy from her apartment and waited for Tim to show up. Sam said goodbye to her girlfriend Jess (who was kind enough to drive her down from Omaha-land the night before) and we all buckled up and headed on down the road.

We should have spotted the signs a little sooner I guess, as by the time we hit North Platte, Tim and Evan discovered that Evan's engine was smoking and steaming a bit. Now, Evans car had just gone in for expensive repairs, so this was surprising, but the car still ran okay, so we decided to let it lie and keep going.

We pressed on, and I got to do what was (in my opinion) the most boring section of the drive that day: Eastern Colorado. No offense meant to the state, but damn it's even more boring than Nebraska, which at least was green instead of yellowish. We made it through Denver and then stopped for lunch at a Village Inn just off the freeway, which was a tasty break. It's not IHOP, but they do have tasty pancakes. I like pancakes.

The rest of the drive was much prettier; Western Colorado has absolutely gorgeous mountains and rivers and other such things. Yeah, I love me some mountains (being from the Pacific Northwest does that to a girl). So the latter part of the drive was full of scary winding roads with steep gradients along with beautiful rocky and green mountains and pretty streams and cool little towns lurking in the middle of nowhere. I'm a fan of the roadtrip as much as I am the destination, so I apologize for the excessive descriptions. But yeah. Colorado was pretty.

Monday finished up in Grand Junction, where we stayed at the cozy Holiday Inn Express, which was great even though the pool was over-chlorinated. The utterly amazing shower made up for it, and the beds and the giant TV were worth it. We also grabbed dinner at a cool little diner, which I forget the name of but I remember that it was bear-themed and that their avocado cheese omelettes were delicious.

We all turned in early, alarms set for 5:45 AM, and huddled under the sheets in the too-cold rooms after over twelve hours in the car. And that's the end of day one.

NOTE: I would have pictures to post here, except I did a lot of sleeping on the first day and did not whip out my camera. I am most apologetic.

TUESDAY, JULY 21st

Another early morning, which felt even earlier thanks to the one-hour time difference, but we got a tasty breakfast at the hotel; free hot buffet FTW. Also, cinnamon rolls.
Our early morning drive was through utah, which I thought was very pretty (again, I like mountains and cliffs).

See? I think those are some damn sweet mountain cliffs!

We stopped just across the Arizona-Nevada border at a gas station (damn it was hot in Nevada) for lunch at a Quiznos-Popeye's place. The drive continued through Nevada and through Vegas, which was fairly unexciting to me. We saw all the important famous stuff driving through on the interstate, and so we continued, making it to California shortly thereafter.

Then the exciting stuff happened.

As we drove through the Mojave Desert of California, a light on Evan's dashboard started flashing; an exclamation point under the RPMs dial. Also, we got a call from Tim behind us to inform us that our exhaust pipe was existing intermittent bursts of steam. We found a rest stop after a good thirty miles of driving without air conditioning (in the desert), in a little town called Minneola. Well, I'm not sure if it even counted as a town actually, it was just one gas station and a crappy cafe that was closed. We pulled in and the car went 'hurk-die' and shuddered to a stop. Upon trying to make it start again, the car refused, so our assesment (and by ours I mean 'Tim and Evan's') was that the transmission had given out.

So Sam called AAA, and we were stuck waiting at a tiny, poorly-air conditioned gas station that was only about ten degrees cooler than it was outside. And it was at least one hundred and three degrees outside. The station attendant was a nice hispanic guy who gave us discount on ice cream and soda while we waited, and even turned his fan around so we could cool off a little (as Sam and I both dehydrate and overheat at the drop of a hat). At this point John called his Mom (who was a good three hours away in Poway) to come and rescue us from our little corner of hell.

The tow guy showed up after about three hours, and we all headed for Barstow, where we could wait for John's mom to rescue us. So we got food at a mini-mall (om nom panda express) and chilled out in a McDonalds for a while. Once John's mom rescued us, we transferred luggage to her station wagon and drove away. Her car has no AC, so it was a warm drive, but it was late so we had no problems. Her house also had no AC, which we forgot, but after twelve years living in England (where air conditioning was sparse at least in my house) that wasn't an issue for me. So we made it to Poway, got to the house, and promptly passed out. Man were we tired after that impromptu rest-stop.

So that's the trip out. Next post will be con-related, probably relating to preview night and the first couple of days of the convention. As well as San Diego, trolley rides, and tasty foodstuffs.

See you tomorrow!

Flailing about Comic-Con Panels

So we're leaving tomorrow; I'm in the process of packing, we went shopping for food items for the roadtrip, and we still have a few things to print. And we have to clean out Evan's car, but then we're ready to head out.

So I figured, before I scurry away to limited blogging access for a week, I'd write about a couple of the panels I'm probably going to be checking out each day at the mother of all nerd gatherings; Comic Con 2009.

THURSDAY:

Terry Gilliam (4:30-5:15 PM, Hall H)

After living in England for 12 years, I couldn't help but become a huge Monty Python fan, and one of my favorite aspects of the movies and TV show were Terry Gilliam's fantastical drawings and animation. I'm also a big fan of Gilliam's directing (12 Monkeys and The Brothers Grimm among them), so I'm going to happily stand in line for hours to hear him talk about his new movie, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus.

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (8:00-10:00 PM, Room 6A)

Another case of me being a fangirl here, since I've loved Joss Whedon since I was 11 years old and watching Buffy late at night at a sleepover party. Dr. Horrible combines one of my favorite creative minds with some of my favorite actors (see my previous post on Nathan Fillion squee. Also, NPH, and the far too lovely Felicia Day) and a musical. So I'll be there with hundreds of other squeeing fans to sing along to the three-part awesomeness that is Dr. Horrible.

FRIDAY:

Meet The Guild (10:30-11:30 AM, Room 5AB)

I randomly discovered the Guild online earlier this year, and even though I don't play MMOs, I loved the show instantly. I also consider Felicia Day as one of my personal heroes, and the chance to listen to her talk about her pet project is definitely tempting.

However, this has an unpleasant conflict with:

Coraline (10:30-11:30 AM, Room 6A)

When I was a kid, I saw the Nightmare Before Christmas, directed by panelist and Coraline director Henry Selick. Some years later I discovered Neil Gaiman while reading Good Omens, the book he co-wrote with Terry Pratchett, and from there I discovered The Sandman and more. I definitely enjoyed Coraline as a film, and the thought of listening to Neil Gaiman is definitely one I like to entertain. So as you can tell, I'm crazy conflicted as to which one of these panels I should go to, and probably will be until Friday.

Bones (3:00-3:45 PM, Ballroom 20)

I've been enjoying this show religiously for the last few months, and am in fact currently watching an episode as I'm typing this blog entry. I've been a big David Boreanaz fan after watching way too much Buffy and Angel, so I'm looking forward to hearing him and Emily Deschanel talking about this show.

Dollhouse (4:00-5:15 PM, Ballroom 20)

This is one of the panels I'm most excited about I think. As previously mentioned, I'm a huge Whedon fan, and I've been watching Dollhouse religiously since the beginning of the year. That and I'm excited to catch the episode they haven't aired yet. Not that I won't be buying the DVD... but still. Joss Whedon. *Squee*

SATURDAY:

Futurama: Life or Death (1:00-1:45PM, Ballroom 20)

Ah, Futurama, definitely one of the best shows ever in my opinion. I recently watched the four mini-movies that were released and loved them, and can't wait for this panel, where executives are going to decide if Futurama really is going to make a return.
So yeah. As a fan, I totally have to be there. Expect much squeeing and jumping up and down... or possibly murder, depending on what the executives say. *Shakes fist at Fox*

Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day (3:30-4:30PM, Room 6DE)

This is the panel I can't believe they're having; Boondock Saints, one of my favorite movies, is finally getting a sequel. I'm heartbroken that Willem Dafoe is not returning, but my two favorite Irishmen are, along with Billy Connolly. Also, Dafoe is apparently going to be replaced by Julie Benz, who I know from Angel as Darla. So yeah. It's one I'm not going to miss.

Kevin Smith (5:15 - 6:45PM, Hall H)

Like many others who have worked crappy jobs on days we weren't even supposed to be there, I fell in love with Kevin Smith's work long ago, and would be a fool to pass up this opportunity to hear him speak. It's a difficult decision, since the True Blood Q&A is taking place at the same time in Ballroom 20, but again, heroes have to be seen. And Kevin Smith is another one of my heroes.

SUNDAY:

Dr. Who (10:00-11:00AM, Ballroom 20)

Two Words: David Tennant. I'm a big fan of him and the show (another by-product of a british upbringing), so there's no way I'm missing this one!

BBC America: Being Human/Torchwood (2:15-3:45PM, Ballroom 20).

I know nothing about Being Human, but I LOVE Torchwood with all my tiny heart, and John Barrowman is... well, let's just say he's on my list of celebrities I must try not to lick. So yeah, another panel I'm not going to miss.

Those are the big ones I'm heading for next week.

Now, time to eat some dinner and finish packing. I'll be awake in less than 12 hours, getting ready to hit the road and drive off into a crazy adventure.

On Fangirling: Nathan Fillion and Castle

So I recently discovered 'Castle', an ABC show about a writer of Crime fiction who starts help the NYPD investigate murders. Rick Castle is, of course, portrayed by the ever-so-excellent Nathan Fillion. Most of my nerdy compadres will recognize Mister Fillion from cult classic Whedon show Firefly. Or if not, as psycho preacher man Caleb from Season 7 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Just in case you guys were wondering if I was a Whedon fan or not >_>...

*Squees silently to herself about the Dollhouse panel at comic-con*

So anyway; Castle. Fillion plays Rick Castle, a suave and successful crime novelist who, after a run-in with the NYPD, becomes a consultant, much to the chagrin of detective Kate Beckett, with whom he has an interesting relationship, involving much witty banter and UST. For further information, check out these three pages.

Just to make things clear for firefly fans, I've provided images to distinguish between the characters of Captain Mal Reynolds and Rick Castle:





There you have it.

Yes, I am indeed a Nathan Fillion fangirl, and a proud member of the Church of Captain Tight-Pants. As every good Firefly fangirl should be (fanboys too, if you swing that way of course).

So that's what I'm spending my work shift doing. Yes, I promise I'llget back to the writing and the comic drawing as soon as I get back from Comic-Con. Later today, or possibly tomorrow, I'll post a pre-con list of panels I'm squeeing and fangirling over (PISAFGO).

More later! Now go watch Castle. Or Firefly, but if you haven't, then you should have done that anyway, lest I rip out your eyes.

Sam's Patented 'Do Not Bitch List' for Comic-Con 2009

Posted for my lovely co-travelers next week (because facebook has a limit to size on messages), compiled by Sam (and her sister Allison) with some minor additions by me. Travelin' buddies, message me via Facebook if you have questions / anything you want to add to this epic list.

And please do read it; it is not only entertaining but crazy useful, meaning Sam = goddess and Balthier Cosplayer extraordinaire!

Anyhoo; here it is!

***

THE DO NOT BITCH LIST

- Wear comfortable shoes. We are walking just about everywhere.
- There will be lots of people and crowds at the con. This is a fact of life.
- There will be lots of waiting in line, especially for things like panels.
- Waiting outside a room for an hour, hour and a half IS necessary, especially for über popular panels such as Stargate or Supernatural.
- Our days will be LONG. To get there and find parking, we will leave early, and the con has events into the wee hours. We won’t stay late every night, but when we do, be prepared.
- WE WILL NOT GO TO THE SAME PLACE TO EAT EVERY NIGHT, AND WE WILL NOT GO TO CHAIN RESTAURANTS IF IT CAN BE AVOIDED!!!
- There will lots of squeeing, fangirling, and insanity.
- Conserve your money until later in the con unless you come across something that will NOT be there the next day
- Leave room in your suitcase for souvenirs.
- We will not be in a giant pack constantly. This is not a school band trip! That said, use common sense. Don’t, say, leave the con without telling anyone or wander down any dark alleys (and keep your phones on at least vibrate, and check them regularly in case someone thinks you're dead and is trying to track you down).
- Sketch out plan of attack using schedule (which is online here - do check it out before we leave).
- Bring barcode registration with you, two copies, one to keep with you and one in your bags (I have a printer if you guys want me to do it for you the night before).
- Bring your cell phone and charger. We are depending on having a cell network so we can be independent, but still keep track of where everyone is.
- Don’t be afraid to try new panels that you would never normally go to. You paid an ass load to get in. make the most of it!
- Certain panels WILL fill up. There’s nothing you can do about it. Just let it go.
- Do not be inflexible with your plans. There are unexpected occurrences of all types, that can screw up even the best made plan. Be loose.
- Set times for lunch and dinner. This is another big part of why we can roam around separately a lot. DO NOT skip meals without telling anyone. We will assume something happened to you, get worried, then beat the crap out of you when we find out you’re fine.
- We don’t all have to eat at the same place. Don’t like sushi? There’s a pub across the street. Don’t feel like Italian tonight? There’s a Cajun place up the block. There’s lots of choices!
- Bring a camera and an extra memory stick/film.
- Bring a swimsuit for a trip to the sea! Or, at least, some denim shorts and a bra that can PASS as a swimsuit top. XD (NOTE: We WILL Be going to the beach. Con is over by 5PM on Sunday. Mission Bay is gorgeous. Beach is a fun way to end a vacation. Bring beach gear).
- Trolley passes. Public transportation. We will use them. Parking is a bitch. No, really. It is. This is the best bet, trust us.
- Food prices will be REDONKULOUS, especially at the con. Bring some snacks, like granola bars, fruit snacks that you can smuggle in with you to minimize how much you have to buy at the con (there's a Wal-Mart near our lodgings).
- Don’t be afraid to carry multiple bags, but at the same time, don’t go overboard. It will be crowded (and bags get heavy).
- Persistence is good. Go back to booths you like- Many of them have different freebies depending on the day or even time of day.
- Pick up as many buttons and as much free swag as you can. You can easily walk out with over $100 of free stuff that you can’t get anywhere else, and all your friends will be jealous.
- Have things in mind that you want to do when the con is not going on, or when the crowds and busyness are getting to you. Cons are exhausting, insane alternate realities of pure caffeine and geekdom. If you’re not used to them, it can be rough.
- Bring sunscreen.
- There will be interesting things to eat and try. No bitching (not even for the whiny vegetarian *points at self*).
- There will be lots of traffic and people drive like psychopaths. It’s California.
- Keep yourself hydrated, even if you’re indoors at the con, and especially if you don’t travel well. There’s a reason they yell this at you on school trips, it’s true. You’ll be so much happier and less likely to get sick (I'm considering buying a huge 24-pack of water bottles before we leave for the car ride. Anyone wanna pitch in?).
- There will be ATMs at the convention. Not all vendors, especially art vendors, take cards.
- We will print a parking lot map (and a bunch of other maps. I love maps).
- Do NOT be afraid to talk to people! People at booths generally LOVE to talk to people that are genuinely interested in what they do, even if you don’t buy anything. This is especially true of art booths. And talk to other con goers— you may learn about something cool that we missed an announcement for!
- There will be things. Weird things. People dressed oddly. Daleks. Just accept that you’ve stumbled into another world and run with it.
- Wander around EVERYWHERE. You will trip across things that you never knew were there, never knew existed, and have always wanted. Go to the artist’s alley, even. A lot of them will do commissioned sketches, talk to you, and the artist’s alley is generally a little calmer than the rest of the con if you need a rest.
- Pick out what you want to go to, and don’t be afraid to go to anything in the con alone! People are nice, and we have cell phones. If you lose us, or need help getting away from rabid comic fanboys, just call.
- Bring anything you want signed by people.
- It’s a big city. There are homeless. There are street preachers. There are freaky guys that talk to themselves. Just look through them. Walk past them. It’ll be okay.
- Don’t buy more than you can carry. We won’t carry it for you, and if you were paying attention, you know bringing multiple bags is encouraged to thwart this common con problem.
- Do NOT expect to be on the phone with people in Omaha/Lincoln for hours. You won’t have time. Call to check in, say hi, but don’t expect to discuss the finer points of the rise and fall of Marxism in communist Russia.
- There is a time difference. Nebraska is 2 hours ahead of San Diego.
- BRING YOUR PRESCRIPTION MEDS IN YOUR CARRY ON. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ENOUGH TO LAST THROUGH THE TRIP, PLUS TWO DAYS EXTRA TO BE SAFE. (Note to self: Lora needs to go get her meds a week early >_>... thanks for reminding me of this one!)
- Saturday we’ll eat at The Field for breakfast. We’re going. Nothing will keep us from it.
- We WILL eat breakfast. Collapsing is bad (NOTE: Breakfast can be spaghetti (*glares at John*). I don't care. Just eat something, as emergency rooms are hella expensive).
- People will not be wearing much. It’s California, and not only that, a comic con. Cosplayers will be running rampant, and people at beaches… well, don’t care.
- This trip is about the convention. That is where we will be the bulk of the time, and what we will plan other activities around.
- Bring a light hoodie/sweater/cardigan etc for cool mornings and cold panel rooms.
- THERE WILL BE NO DRAMA. TELL YOUR FRIENDS WITH BOY AND GIRL TROUBLES TO SHOVE IT. TELL YOUR RELATIVES YOU DIED. WE ARE ON VACATION. WE ARE HAVING FUN WITHOUT THEM, AND THEY WILL NOT STOP US!
- Bring lots of Tylenol/Advil to help with aching muscles, headaches, and any bugs you pick up at the con.
- Make a list of what you’re bringing beforehand 5 days in advance and triple check it.
- There will be no diets (Vacation is not compatible with Diet).
- Bring an alarm clock.
- BRING A PHOTO ID (Driver's license or similar works fine).
- No hookers in hotels or houses.
- No strippers either.
- Some people will be bitchy and grouchy when they first wake up. Chances are, it’s not because of you. It’s the waking up part.
- Bring something to put dirty clothes in.

SPECIAL CAR RIDE SECTION!
- Be aware of the moods of other people around you. You can usually tell when someone is close to wanting your head on a pike. Don’t provoke them, please.
- We all have different musical tastes. That’s totally fine.
- Bring headphones and batteries/charger for your music listening device of choice.
- Just because have control of the radio doesn’t mean you get to be a jackass about it.
- Keep music at a fairly low volume. If we can hear what you’re listening to a little, cool. But when we can understand every word, for sake of your hearing, turn it down. O.O
- DITTO for the radio. Keep in mind you have some damn powerful speakers to listen to your music on, while other folk have dinky headphones. At best, shift the speaker balance in your car so it plays through the front speakers only, but if that’s not possible, please keep it at a reasonable volume.
- KNOW THE RULES OF OTHER PEOPLE’S CARS. Some people don’t allow eating. Some people don’t allow gum. If you’re ever wondering ASK, and remember that this person is being kind enough to let us use their car for our epic journey to the geek holy land. Be nice.
- Don’t backseat drive. It pisses everyone off.
- Cellphones in cars. Yes, you’ll have them. We know. WE KNOW. Please be polite and have them set on vibrate or silent to avoid driving people crazy. And try not to have conversations on them when other people can’t escape (NOTE: We don't mind hanging out at rest-stops for an extra ten-fifteen minutes so you can call your boyfriend/girlfriend/mom, but again, none of the Marxism in Russia madness. Try to keep it short so we can get back on the road).
- Space is at a premium. It is highly, highly recommended you bring a suitcase/bag that only has enough room for what you need and then just ship souvenirs back. It was done last year, and they have a post office IN THE CONVENTION CENTER. Seriously. It’s much easier that way.
- DRIVERS: Don’t be tyrants.
- PASSENGERS: Don’t be jerkoffs. Or jerk off. Either.
- Don’t purposely annoy other passengers, for the love of god. Or the driver.
- Keep noisemaking objects such as cellphones, computers, portable game systems, etc. silent or use them with headphones.
- If other people are sleeping, let them sleep. Enjoy how cute they look. “Aww” quietly. Do not draw on or otherwise torment them.
- Fights will happen. You’re in an enclosed space with a lot of other people. Tempers will flare. Just everyone be mellow. Breathe in. Breathe out.
- People prefer different temperatures. Some people overheat very easily. Bring something light to put on/toss over you if the airconditioning bothers you. It’s much easier to fix being too cold than being too hot. I’ve been overheated just sitting in a car before. It’s not fun (This is important as we will be driving through LOTS of desert).
- Ear plugs could very well be your friend. Feel free to buy some.

SPECIAL HOTEL/LODGINGS SECTION
- Figure out spots for everyone to keep their things in the room FIRST THING.
- If it isn’t yours, don’t touch or move it unless it directly impedes your progress (ex: A chair in the middle of the floor, suitcase in the middle of the floor) and even then, don’t make a fuss about it, just move it enough to get it out of the way and let it go.
- Recognize that some people get very, very upset about their things being moved or touched without their permission. ALWAYS ask. Even if it’s as minute as borrowing a comb.
- Don’t hog the bathroom. If you take a long time to shower, you may want or need to go last.
- If someone on this trip, for any reason, becomes sick, let them rest. And if it is sickness that requires a bathroom, be mindful of that.
- Please, PLEASE try not to leave the bathrooms a mess and/or smelling gross. Please? Fans are your friends.
- For much of this trip, we are in John’s parents’ house, which they have been wonderfully kind to let us stay in. Always be mindful of that. We will be taking John’s family out to dinner in thanks, and also, his mom’s birthday is the 22nd, so a present wouldn’t go amiss. She likes cats (NOTE: She's also a big fan of Star Trek, so any con goodies we find would be a good idea too).
- Say please, say thank you, and generally remember common acts of courtesy.
- Some people will get homesick, miss their boyfriends/girlfriends. Some people won’t. No bitching or mockery, please.
- What you do with your section of the room is your business until it directly affects/impedes passage in and out of said room or to the bathroom. Don’t leave stuff out for people to trip on.
- If you’re sharing a bed, please keep in mind people can only control so much of what they do when they’re asleep. I have a tendency to snuggle up next to whoever is in bed with me or steal coverlets and, I’ve been told, occasionally make little whining noises. I have no control over it. Keep that in mind with whatever weird quirks people have.


SPECIAL COSPLAY SECTION!
- Be prepared for pictures, especially if your costume is easily recognizable/ really really nifty and complex.
- Bring an emergency sewing kit with extra closures for your costume, thread that matches your costume, and hand sewing needles.
- Bring full costume in your suitcase.
- Bring a change of clothes to the con, and a change of shoes if you need, to the con on the days you cosplay. It may be too hot, something could spill, a thousand things could happen. Be prepared.
- Have fun, for fuck’s sake, and if those of us that cosplay get into character and speak in an Archadian accent at you, don’t hit us. Some of us have fun wearing more than just the character’s clothes when we cosplay.
- Don’t hog the bathroom on cosplay days, no matter how tempting.

PLACES I’D LOVE TO SHOW YOU GUYS!
Little Italy- the food is amazing.
The Field- a fantastic pub where the barkeep drinks Guinness and mutters about soccer at nine AM. And the food is BRILLIANT! It has breakfast on the weekends and it is amazing. It’s in the Gaslamp District and I’ll be going at least one day while we’re there to eat there, even if I have to go alone.
RA- A sushi joint with techno music, great endame and tasty rolls. If we have the money, cool, if we don’t, we don’t need to. Just somewhere neat. :)
Ghirdelli Store- Do I really have to explain? CHOCOLATE, PEOPLE!
ALSO:
Chevy's: awesome mexican restaurant near John's house - we will take his mom out there for her birthday. They have EPIC homeade tortillas that are delicious and fresh.
Mission Bay Beach: Awesome beach with sand, ocean and firepits of epic doom. We WILL go there and have epic beach times of doom.

***

So that's Sam's illustrious list. More information will be sent later this week regarding timing, luggage, packing etc.

And, just in case you guys missed it: the Con Schedule. Look at it and make note of the main things you really want to see. We'll have a print copy, but it's your job to keep track of the things you want to go see.

<3,

Lora

Head Meets Desk (but only a little): Comic-Con 2009 Schedule

The Comic-Con 2009 schedule has been officially released, causing me to nerd out with my awesome spreadsheet, planning out the panels I'm itching to attend. I've already spotted a few big-time conflicts between panels, both of which I'm feeling agonized over. The first is on Friday at 10:30 AM. In one room there's a panel meeting for The Guild, and in the other, Neil Gaiman is talking about Coraline.
*Headdesk*
The other clash is on Saturday afternoon, when the True Blood Q&A panel is at the same time Kevin Smith is talking.

Thus, I'm eaten alive with dilemmas, though I'm lucky in that this seems to be the only set of conflicts in the entire weekend. Other panels I'm going to be scoping out include Terry Gilliam (squee), Bones, Dollhouse (EPIC squee), Futurama, Boondock Saints II (*can't breathe, spazzing out*), Torchwood, Dr. Who, and maybe a life-drawing class.

So yeah, I'll spend the next week weighing the pros and cons of those two panel conflicts, and hunt down some more. There are a lot of little panels I might be interested in. This time next week I'll be driving through West Nebraska heading for San Diego. Man I'm excited.

And yeah, as worried as I am about the conflicting schedule, it's not something I really need to whine about here. I should just be happy and feel lucky that I'm able to go on this fantastic adventure.

So yeah, less ranting and squee today; probably more at various points between now and the trip. Also, some more writing will be posted later today. First, watching Bones and hopefully finding something to eat.

Friday Night D&D

So it's Saturday afternoon; we stayed up late last night playing D&D, and instead of getting down to upping my wordcount, I'm going to procrastinate and update this blog instead.

The session went very well last night. John and I had our characters resurrected: John's is Veit, a Dwarven Evangelist (which is like cleric but you get more domains), and mine is Ursula, Dwarven Duskblade (though I also have a level in Rogue). We've been playing a married couple, which has made things entertaining. We all leveled up to level 8 at the start of the session, and Chris, whose character also died at the end of the last session, rolled up a gnome beguiler named Fiorn. The rest of the party is Evan, playing a human wizard named Jakob, Jordan, an aasimar druid called Delilah, and Alpha, an aasimar sorcerer named Anomander.

So we started off with the resurrecting and the acquisition of gear - especially since Ursula had lost most of hers as it was liquified by the acid of the giant worm beastie. The three living members of the party found the house of Alli Akbar (please don't ask me to spell that correctly, please), who offered them infinite hospitality and then, being a cleric, happily resurrected myself and John from the afterlife (where we were doing what followers of Olanorn do - fight, feast and carouse). So we came back, everyone got comfy, and we were all given 'guest gifts' (meaning Beta put the magic item compendium down on the table and let us go through it, picking out 8k worth of stuff (10k in my case, as I lost ALL my gear)). I could afford the heavy animated darkwood shield I wanted, and had gold leftover for little things, like crystals that let me sleep in heavy armor.

Then we were assigned a task - to shut down the control center of the labyrinth where we were currently staying, at the request of our kind host. Before doing this though, we decided to cast speak with dead on the corpse of the priest we had killed last session (right after he killed John).
I got part of this on video. It is most amusing, and is on YouTube for viewing pleasure.

After this, we ventured into the labyrinth, and the first thing we ran into were four huge-sized elementals, one of which swept John and I into the water (thank heaven for 18 Con score). He and I took care of that one (though it took a while, a spiritual weapon and a couple spectacular crits on my part), while the others killed the rest with the help of Evan's variant of Evard's Black Tentacles (one of my favorite spells), Chris slowing the dudes, Alpha flinging fireballs, and Jordan calling down some epic lightning.

There's the grid - the big colorful cardboard parts are the elementals, the smaller dudes are us. Well, except me and John, we're kinda under the air elemental at this point.











We broke for the night after the elementals were defeated, and Beta announced that we had accrued enough XP to level up again! Cheers and joy resounded throughout the room, and we all retired to bed discussing all the things essential for level nine -- especially potential feats.






My d20's: the Orange one did an excellent job this week. The white one sucked, and was not used very much.








We're all looking forward to next week I think -- assuming we play, I really hope we play or we won't for another three weeks, which would suck.

So that's my rundown of the session. Beta will post a much more eloquent one on the forum I'm sure, so when that's up I'll link you in the direction of it.

I'm off to buy snackfood for writing purposes, then get down to my goal of the day -- hitting 20k. Still not sure if I'm meeting up with Jim (one of ze writing buddies), but he just got off work so he'll probably call me later. Yay upping the wordcount. If only blog posts counted :(

It's Friday. Gotta love Friday.

Class is finally over, which is wonderful; it's so nice to be three credit hours closer to graduating, hopefully with an 'A' grade. The test was simple, and next week I start my new work schedule, which is noon to six PM -- well, except on Monday and Wednesday, then my boss is scheduling me to work all day. Yay extra money! Especially since I won't be making any for a week and a half while I'm gone on this trip -_-...

Not that I'm complaining of course -- I'm counting the days (10) until we all pile in our cars and ship out to have a crazy adventure driving across America to indulge in a festive few days of being humongous nerds among friends, and in John's case family. It's his Mom's birthday on the 22nd, so we're gonna help her celebrate it.

It's a long drive (over 3000 miles), and we're probably all gonna want to kill each other by the time we get through with it, but it'll be a vacation to remember.

Just one of many things to look forward to in the coming months; Comic-con, Fall semester, John's birthday, my birthday, NaNoWriMo, family visiting for Thanksgiving. 2009 has definitely become my prime candidate for 'Best Year of my Life Ever.'

D&D tonight - I should have time to blog more about it next week, though our DM has been recounting our escapades over on the Giant In The Playground Message Boards if you want to read it. It'll be an interesting session for sure, especially since John and I have characters that require resurrection. And it doesn't help that we're playing Age of Worms, one of the deadlier pre-made campaigns in existence. It's good fun though, and Beta (As we call our DM, Thomas) is an excellent, if brutal, DM.

Right. Back to watching Legend of the Seeker and adding just enough to my wordcount to reach today's quota. 100 words should do it. :)

Lost In Arkhasia: Section II

Chapter One: Part II

The group was packing up; it was only around eleven in the evening, but they had been playing since dinnertime and everyone was eager for a rest. Eric was standing with Max at the head of the table, asking questions.
“So I’ve been looking at the Leadership feats,” Eric said. “And I think I can get a pretty decent following if I take them.”
“Really?” Max sounded curious but unsurprised at Eric’s idea. “Where are you finding all these feats?”
“Well,” Eric said, looking a bit sheepish. “I’m finding most of them in Dragon Magazine.”
“Ah,” Max nodded. “That would be why I’ve never heard of most of them before.”
“You’ll want to take a better look at them then?” Eric asked as Max unplugged his laptop.
“Just send me the files over instant messenger later,” Max said, winding his power cable into a neat clump. “I trust you Eric, but I still want to take a look.”
“Hey, you’re the DM,” Eric said, lifting his backpack up onto his shoulders. “No problems there.”
“Oh,” Max called out to the rest of the group, some of whom were heading for the front door. “We need to find another place to play next Friday. My place isn’t going to be free.”
“Aww,” Faith said, pouting. “Why not?”
“My new roommate is moving in,” Max said. “He’ll need almost constant quiet.”
“Then where are we supposed to play?” Jess asked, her expression becoming one full of near panic. “I can’t wait more than one week to play Ariana Max, you know I can’t!”
“All right, stop freaking out Jess,” Eric said, looking exasperated. “Max’ll find another place for us, and he’ll let us know before Friday, right?” he looked over at Max as he spoke.
“No problem,” Max nodded.
“Actually…” Keith spoke up. “I might know a place.”
“Where?” Max asked.
“I found it while I was working in the basement of Stonebridge,” Keith said.
“What were you doing in a dorm basement?” Dave asked.
“He works as a janitor,” Faith said, looking mildly disgusted as she did so.
“Sounds like a pretty shitty job,” Dave said.
Keith nodded emphatically. “You have no idea.”
“So what did you find?” Max asked.
“It’s an old storage room they use to store old bed linen and stuff,” Keith said. “It’s pretty much abandoned; I’ve never seen anyone go in there besides me.”
“Huh,” Max nodded, intrigued. “Might be worth investigating. What do you guys think?”
“Whatever works for you dude,” Eric said, heading for the front door down the hallway. “Just call when you guys know for sure where the next session is gonna be.”
“Yeah, same here,” Dave said. “Thanks for the session Max!”
“See you guys later!” Max called down the hallway. “You guys headed out too?” he asked Faith and Jess, who had gathered up their books and were also heading for the door.
“Yep,” Faith nodded. “Gotta get some sleep.”
“Me too,” Jess said. “I’m going to be working on Ariana’s genealogy this weekend Max, do you mind if I message you online for more information on elven society?”
“Sure,” Max nodded. “Go right ahead, I’ll be online all Saturday.”
“Awesome!” Faith said as she headed for the door, Keith and Jess just in front of her. “I’ll probably message you too Max, I want to know how much money we’re getting from the prince.”
Keith and Jess looked at each other and snickered.
“What?” Faith asked, her smile fading slightly.
“Nothing,” Jess reassured her, waving back at Keith and Max. “See you guys later!”
“Bye!” Max called back as they left the apartment and headed for the street.
“Thanks for the game man,” Keith said, slapping Max on the back. “Great session.”
“Glad you guys had fun,” Max said. “You need a ride back to the dorm?”
“Nah,” Keith shook his head. “Pretty sure Eric’s walking back too; I’ll catch up with him. See you on Monday dude. Maybe we can meet up and I can show you the storage room.”
“Sounds good to me,” Max said as Keith headed out the door. “Call me whenever you’re free for that.”
“Will do,” Keith nodded, putting on his jacket. “Have a good night.”
“You too,” Max waved as him as he headed towards the street. “Bye!”
As his friends departed, Max shut the door and locked the deadbolt with a solid ‘click’ and headed back down the hallway towards the main room. He went into the kitchen and found the coffeepot among the piles of dirty dishes. As he flicked it on, he reached down towards a stool next to him and picked up a tan-colored Siamese kitten, who purred contentedly as he gently stroked her fur. “That’s a good kitty,” he murmured as his coffee began to brew. “That’s a good Arwen, not disrupting my session.”
Arwen mewed softly and squirmed in his arms to be let down; he deposited her on the kitchen tile and waited for his coffee to finish brewing, which didn’t take long. Pouring the fresh coffee into a blue mug, he carried it into the hallway that led out of the kitchen towards a closed door adjacent to the bathroom. A hand-drawn sign tacked onto it read “The Lair of Max – Here Be Dragons.” Max opened the door and entered the small room, walking past the small unmade bed in the corner towards the desk that sat up against the window. It was crammed full of items, including a large stack of gaming books, a cup full of dice, and his desktop computer. The books clearly came from a bookshelf directly opposite the desk, which held mostly sourcebooks.
Max sat down in the comfy rolling chair in front of the desk and opened his sourcebooks, flipping through to find specific references. Arwen wandered in and jumped onto the foot of the bed, where she curled up and stared intently at Max, who was muttering to himself.
“And so, the adventurers complete another epic quest,” he said. “Now, what should I throw at them next?”

***

More on Monday!

NOTE: D&D is the property of Wizards of the Coast; everything else is copyright © Lora Hibbard 2009.

Writing, Butterflies and South America

Didn't manage to get any photos at the Writing Group (writers are even tricksier about photos than squirrels), but we all managed to be moderately productive. Today was a bit better for productivity, although I seem to have sidetracked and am now writing one story about a group of students who wander into another world, and a second one about a little girl who is kidnapped into a fairytale world by a cloud of iridescent butterflies.

I know, WTHell, right?

No other exciting news on this front I'm afraid. John and I might finish watching Braveheart tonight, or we might just make pasta and cuddle, or there could be Diablo II involved. Only time will tell. I do know what will be taking up the rest of my stint at work though: more writing, more Legend of the Seeker episodes, and eventually I'll get through a chapter or two of my textbook to be ready for my final exam tomorrow.

Exciting times. Every day that passes now is one day closer to the Comic-Con trip, which I have affectionately dubbed "our pilgrimage to nerd-Mecca". I'll be taking lots of photos there, that much I can guarantee you. :). Hmm... I should probably start making an obsessive list of all the things I need to pack... >_>...

Time wander over to South America and get down to reading about the Mayans, the Aztecs and the Incas. Then I can start writing more about butterflies who kidnap small children, as the ideas, much like the butterflies, just keep swarming.

Pictures of Squirrels; Stalking Wildlife on Campus

I brought my camera with me in my backpack today, and I found the opportunity to make use of it while I was walking to work this morning. I caught sight of no less than three squirrels on my way, and so I took a bunch of pictures. Which, of course, being the dork that I am, I am now posting here.

Here's squirrel #1:



Most of the other ones I took were blurry, but when I first spotted this guy, he was less than a foot away from me.

Pictures from Squirrel #2 were much better:

Attentive squirrel is attentive!

I think he was thirsty and drinking out of a puddle.

He looks so sweet... almost like a cuddly toy.

And I only got two pictures of Squirrel #3, but they turned out very well:

3 was more skittish than the others, so I caught him in a 'deer in the headlights' pose.

Managed to snag him again once he scurried away up the tree though :3.

Squirrels may be pesky rodentia, but they are definitely adorable. And I'm the kind of person who can be walking along and, midsentence, stop and yell "Squirrel!!" the second I see a small fluffy dude scurrying by.
I even do this in cars.

Yeah... a dork am I.

That's about all for cutesy wildlife photos today; next post will have fewer fuzzy dudes in it, I promise.

Lost In Arkhasia: Section I

Okay, here we go; I'm posting the first little scene of this book I'm working on for JulNoWriMo. Enjoy! I will be posting these excerpts and information until August, when I will take my webcomic off of hiatus and focus on it as my primary creative project.

***

Lost in Arkhasia

Part One: Games We Play

Chapter One: Friday Night Games

It wasn’t a particularly spacious apartment; the hallways were narrow despite the owner’s painting them white in an attempt at conveying the illusion of space. This attempt was counteracted by the line of large posters lined up along the right side of the hallway, each one put up by the apartment’s current occupant. The posters displayed an assortment of images taken from popular films, and each one was lined up in chronological order according to release date. Moving down the hall, a casual observer would have noticed such titles as The Lord of the Rings, Blade Runner, and episodes four, five and six of Star Wars. All of these posters, and a number of others lined along the wall, were framed and covered with glass, presumably to protect them from any undue wear and tear. The posters covered the wall from the front door all the way to a door at the other end of the hall, which, on this particular evening, was slightly ajar. A soft yellow light shone from the gap, and voices could be heard from within the room on the other side.
The room wasn’t large; it could hold only a long wooden oblong table and an assortment of chairs. A door opposite the hallway was open and led to what was apparently a very small and messy kitchen, as dishes were piled up along what little counter space was available.
The main room was currently full of people, a half-a-dozen total, all of them somehow comfortably seated around the table, which, much like the kitchen counters, was covered with an assortment of seemingly random items. Among the candy bar wrappers, empty bottles of mountain dew and scattered pencils, there also sat piles of printed pages, each labeled with names and covered with numbers. A number of large books were also piled up among the random food items, all of them hard-backed and with different titles, though they all bore the same logo at the top of the front cover: the words Dungeons and Dragons, with a sword cutting between the two.
At the head of the table, one of the room’s occupants was typing something on their laptop, a beat-up looking Dell whose screen appeared to have been mended a few times over with silver duct tape. He was slightly overweight, with short brown hair that fell into his eyes, which were bright blue and staring intently at the words he had just typed. He wore a pensive expression on his pale face, and when he finally spoke to the rest of the group, his voice held a tone of authority in it: “Okay,” he said, raising his eyes from the computer screen to look at the over five people seated around the table. “The dragon looks to be on it’s last legs; that frost spell did considerable damage to its hide. Alric, it’s your initiative.”
He nodded to a tall, thin boy seated opposite him at the foot of the table, whose dark brown hair was disheveled from what one would assume was a severe lack of a hairbrush. His eyes were an intense grey, and they studied a piece of paper for a moment before he spoke in a clear baritone: “All right Max,” he picked up a small twenty-sided die and began shaking it in his hand. “I’m going to take a five foot step and swing at it with my spiked chain.”
The first boy, presumably Max, leaned over the top of his computer towards the item that took up the most space on the table, a large grid that held a half-a-dozen miniature figures, one of which was a large red dragon. He moved the small figure of a blonde man with a sword backwards and then looked up again, addressing his companion opposite him. “Roll your attack then.” He said.
His companion shook the die between his fingers for a brief moment, and then dropped it in front of him for everyone to see. It rolled around for a few seconds, then landed solidly displaying the number fourteen. “Does a 26 hit?” he asked Max after glancing down at the papers in front of him.
Max looked almost disappointed to hear the result. “Yes Eric, that hits. And your damage?”
Eric grabbed two four-sided dice and rolled them across the table so they landed next to his other die. They both landed on the number four, and Eric smiled. “Max damage,” he said triumphantly. “Seventeen points.”
Max looked back at his computer screen and typed down some notes, making calculations in his head. “Okay,” he said. “That’s just enough to kill it. You swing with your spiked chain and embed it into the dragon’s brain, killing it instantly. It falls to the ground at your feet.”
The rest of the table erupted with cheers and sighs of relief; the other four players threw their hands up into the air with delight, while others leaned over to slap Eric on the back.
“Nice shot Eric!” said the boy sitting directly to Eric’s right, who was also tall but with blonde hair which fell almost to his shoulders.
“Yeah, that was awesome!” the girl to his left said, her light brown hair falling across her face as she did so, causing her to pull it back with her fingers with mild exasperation crossing her face. The other two players also expressed congratulations; the boy seated to Max’s left leaned over to give Eric a high-five, and the other girl, whose hair was pulled back a long braid hanging over her shoulder, exposing the fact that she was wearing a pair of elf ears, let out a soft “huzzah!”
Max coughed to get his players’ attention, then looked down again at his computer to check on what was going to happen next. “All right,” he said, as the other five people around the table settled down. “The dragon is dead. Are you guys going to look around the lair for the statue the prince sent you after?”
Eric nodded. “Sounds good to me. Faith,” he said, looking over at the girl sitting to his immediate left. “You go check for traps to make sure we don’t get killed by something while we look.”
Faith picked up her own twenty-sided die, which was bright blue and sparkly. “Right,” she said, looking down at her own pile of papers. “I’ll search for traps.”
“You going to take twenty?” Max asked her as she checked the sheet of paper for the right numbers she needed.
“Yeah,” Faith said, nodding and once again brushing her hair out of her face. “We have enough time now that the dragon’s dead.”
“You find no traps,” Max said, double-checking his screen to make sure he was correct.
“Awesome,” Eric said, his tone enthusiastic; clearly he had been looking forward to this part all evening. “Grab the statue and the rest of the loot and then let’s get out of here. We can make it back to Kharastor if we hurry.”
The boy to his right spoke up, his voice slightly higher-pitched than Erics: “Dude, we can’t leave right away; this was a young red dragon, so it’s already managed to amass a decent-sized hoard.”
“Really?” the other boy asked, looking uncertain behind his round glasses. “I wouldn’t think Dragons would have much of a hoard when they’re young.”
Both boys looked over at Eric, who they clearly had deemed the authority on the subject. “Dave,” he said, addressing the uncertain boy close to the head of the table. “Dragons start amassing their hoard pretty much as soon as they’re capable of going forth into the world and looting and burning things and taking all their stuff. Right Keith?” he asked, looking to the blonde boy at his right for confirmation.
“Pretty much,” Keith agreed, nodding. “But I still think we should gather up the rest of the treasure. The Statue of Alk’hanzatt is worth something to the prince, sure, but he didn’t say we couldn’t take the rest of the hoard for ourselves.”
“Well,” Faith chimed in, sounding concerned. “Shouldn’t we check with the Prince first to see if he didn’t want it?”
“He only asked for the statue,” the other girl, the one with elf ears, pointed out. “He didn’t say anything about the rest of it, and I bet there’s some good spellbooks in that hoard.”
“Don’t get too excited Jess,” Max pointed out as he continued typing at his computer. “It wasn’t that old a dragon.”
The girl, Jess, seemed almost to ignore his words, as if it hadn’t registered that she had been addressed.
“Dude,” Keith whispered from the other side of the table. “We’re still in-game. You know she never answers to Jess when we’re in-game.”
Max sighed, and across the table Eric rolled his eyes. “Fine,” he said. “Don’t get too excited, Ariana,” he addressed Jess by the name of her Elven wizard, causing her to perk up instantly. “It wasn’t that old a dragon.”
Jess shrugged. “Dragons do collect magical tomes,” she said. “I know they do.”
“Well, sure,” Max said, shrugging also. “When they’re hundreds of years old. This one’s barely out of being a wyrmling.”
“Aw, nuts,” Jess said, looking disappointed. “Too bad.”
“Spellbooks or not, the hoard’s ours for the grabbing, Eric said, obviously keen on the prospect of so much treasure. “So who brought bags of holding?”
“There’s no way you can fit an entire hoard into a bag of holding,” Keith said, shaking his head at his friend.
“That’s why we’ll use more than one!” Eric responded with enthusiasm.
Keith looked over at Max, clearly wanting the Dungeon Master’s word on this one. “Can we do that?” he asked.
Max nodded. “Sure,” he said. “If there’s enough room in all your bags combined, and even then you’ll probably need to carry extra in your packs. But otherwise, sure.”
Eric and Keith both smiled. “Sweet,” Eric said. “Let’s get started.”
Max sighed and began picking up books. “Guess I’d better start looking up the listings for a CR 10 hoard then.” He said as the others began figuring out just how much room they had between their extradimensional bags.
After twenty minutes of bickering and assigning amounts of treasure to each member of the party, the group finally made their way back to the city of Kharastor, where they were granted an audience with Prince Theo. Max normally would have taken more time to describe the journey back to the city, but it had been a long night and he was ready to wrap the session up. He addressed the group with a slightly different tone in his voice, hoping to emphasize to them that he was now addressing them not as Max the DM, but as the Prince.
“I am pleased to see you’ve found the idol in the dragon’s hoard,” he said, keeping his voice steady and smooth. “Your swift following of my instructions is appreciated. I will add an extra twenty percent to your usual payment to express my sincerest thanks to you all.”
Eric and Keith smiled at each other and then, as one man, raised their hands to their heads.
“Sweet,” Eric said. “That’ll give us enough money to buy new magic items in town!”
“Yeah,” Keith agreed. “And I can donate enough money to the Temple to help them fix that leaky roof.”
“I still think you guys look ridiculous when you put your hands on your heads like that,” Dave said from his spot next to Keith.
“Hey,” Keith shrugged, hand still firmly planted on top of his head. “This way Max won’t screw us over if we say something in-game our character’s wouldn’t mean to say.”
“Like if you guys were to start talking about assassinating the prince right in front of him?” Dave asked.
“Yep,” Keith nodded. “If we were gonna do that, we’d keep our hands on our heads.”
“So you guys aren’t assassinating the Prince?” Max asked, looking up from his computer.
“Not at all,” Keith said, raising the hand from the top of his head and waving at Max with it. “As you were DM.”
Max rolled his eyes. “Right,” he said. “The Prince is waiting for your response.”
“Ah,” Eric coughed and composed himself. “We appreciate your generous offer, good Prince, and are glad we can provide these services for you. We hope we can continue this arrangement and provide these…” he paused for a moment, smiling. “Covert services for you in the future.”
“Kiss-ass,” Keith muttered, smirking.
“Shut your hole Keith,” Eric said, quickly touching his hand to his head and sticking his tongue out at his friend.
“The Prince bows his head graciously at you,” Max said. “And tells you that he will notify the five of you when your services are needed further.”
“So that’s it for the evening?” Jess asked, looking slightly disappointed.
“That’s all folks,” Max nodded, closing a few documents on his laptop. “Unless of course you guys want to tell him about the hoard.”
The group pondered this for a moment, then Faith spoke up:
“I think we should tell him,” she said. “He’s the prince, and you never know, he might be nice enough to let us keep all the treasure.”
“I wouldn’t expect him to,” Jess said, looking slightly happier now that they were continuing for a brief while. “Prince Arkhstead may be known for his generosity, but he is also known for his lust for power and desire for valued artifacts. We might miss out on unique and powerful items we would otherwise prefer to keep. Like spellbooks.” she added, glaring at Eric as he rolled his eyes again.
“But we want him to keep hiring us!” Faith insisted. “If we do this, then he’ll hire us again and we can get another raise!”
“Or,” Dave said. “We could just keep the hoard, and that would be our raise.”
“Yeah,” Keith agreed. “We really don’t need to get in any better with the Prince than we’ve already gotten.”
“Yeah,” Dave said. “This way we’ll just miss out on good loot. Like spellbooks.” He nodded to Jess, who nodded back with approval.
There was a pause as the other four members of the group turned to look at Eric, who seemed to be pondering the best course of action. Finally he spoke:
“I say we give it up.” He said, causing everyone at the table, even Max, to do a double take.
“Huh?”
“Faith’s right,” Eric said. “We could get in better with the prince, and besides, it’s mostly just some gems and gold pieces. Nothing special.”
Max raised an eyebrow, but said nothing to Eric, looking instead at Faith, who was still in a mild state of shock. “All right. Faith, you want to tell the prince about the hoard you guys brought back with you?”
Faith still looked a little confused, but she smiled all the same: “Yes!” She turned to face Max directly. “Your highness, while slaying the dragon, we were fortunate enough to acquire not only the idol you wanted but also the dragons hoard.”
“Really?” Max said, still speaking in the tone of Prince Theo. “Well, that is quite a find. Thank you for informing me of your fortune. I’m sure many of the items the dragon held within its lair will be of much value to Kharastor. You may stop by the treasury on the way out to deposit the hoard and collect your rewards. I shall summon you within the month for any other tasks I will want you to carry out.”
Keith sighed as Max finished speaking, placing his hand on his head before speaking. “Great,” he said. “There goes our loot.”
“Oh quit your bitching,” Faith said, also placing her hand on her head. “We get a huge amount of gold just from killing the damn dragon. What’s a little loot from a hoard compared to that?”
“A dragon’s hoard is better than gold!” Keith insisted, keeping his hand on his head. “It’s jewels and tomes and… I don’t know, long lost arks of the covenant and stuff like that!”
“Dude, don’t worry about it,” Eric said to Keith. “Let’s just deposit the treasure and get our cash.”
“I can’t believe your actually agreeing with me on this one Eric,” Faith said, still looking surprised.
“Faith,” Eric said, turning to face her. “Sometimes you have good ideas. And I respect your need to enact those good ideas.”
“Even if her good ideas involve getting into the Prince’s pants?” Keith muttered, loudly enough for only Dave to hear.
“Shhh!” Dave said, looking around nervously in the hope that Faith hadn’t heard them.
“Awesome!” Faith said, clearly pleased that something had gone her way. “I’ll be right back guys; bathroom!” She pushed back her chair and headed for the door that led into the kitchen.
Eric watched her leave, then addressed the DM. “Right. Max, are we done at the treasury?”
“Sure,” Max said. “Why?”
“I want to go find the local alchemist and the highest level wizard in the area,” Eric said.
“Any particular reason?” Max asked, eyebrow raised.
Eric smiled, looking smug. “To show them the red dragon corpse I stuffed into my bag of holding.”
The rest of the group, Max included, all looked at him in total shock. “Guh?”
“I had the extra room after I hacked it up, and I figured it’d fetch a pretty price.” Eric was grinning from ear-to-ear now, looking more smug by the minute.
Keith was looking at Eric, his eyes filling with glee. “How much of a pretty price?” he asked, hope in his voice.
“Far more than the price of a dragon’s hoard my friend,” Eric said, still grinning. “Much, much more.”
Keith stared at him for a minute, saying nothing. “Dude…” he finally said. “I could kiss you.”
Max shook his head, a tad bewildered, but composed himself. “Right,” he said. “So you get the dragon parts sold off and they can be made into whatever you want, so long as the overall value of the dragon is divided evenly among you.”
“Awesome,” Eric rubbed his hands together with enthusiasm. “We’ll want dragonhide armor for sure, and maybe some dragonbone weapons.”
“I’d like to keep some parts for spell components and study,” Jess chimed in, looking happier now that they had more for loot than simple gold. “Dragons are inherently magical creatures.”
“Awesome!” Dave said. “I’d like some dragonhide armor. Wearing a dragon sounds badass.”
“So,” Keith addressed Max with some hesitancy. “Does Faith get a cut?”
Max, looking through a sourcebook, did not glance up as he spoke. “As far as I’m concerned,” he said. “She gave her cut to the Prince.”
Keith’s facial expression was joyous. “I could kiss you too.”
Max looked up long enough to glare at him. “Don’t even think about it.”

*

Section II will post on Friday morning!

NOTE: D&D is the property of Wizards of the Coast; everything else is copyright © Lora Hibbard 2009.

An Evening of Music

I enjoyed a beautiful adventure this evening. I called up one of my girlfriends (the lovely Diana) and the two of us went on a quest for the Oasis Dance Studio in North Lincoln to see the wonderful and illuminating SJ Tucker a.k.a. S00j a.k.a. Skinny White Chick perform on one of her many stops on her drive across the big USA. I've been a big fan of S00j ever since I happened across a link to some of her music on a story-blog I frequent by one Alexandra Erin (whom I also had the pleasure of meeting this evening), and have been an addict ever since.

The concert, held in a small dance studio, was small but enthusiastic. A trio of bellydancers performed in the background as S00j performed her set, and even though I was aware of Ms. Tucker's vocal talents before, this live show absolutely blew me away. It is indeed hard to believe that such a loud, soulful, passionate voice can come out of one 'skinny white chick' playing a guitar. But it did, and it was spellbinding. She sang of dances, raccoons, ninjas (yes, really, streaking ninjas), owls and carnivals, each song jumping straight out of her heart and into ours.

Afterwards there were smiling faces all around; I got me a shiny signed CD (squee) and a big hug, with thank yous on both sides to go with it.



There it is; all signed just for me <3.



(As you can tell, I'm all dorkishly excited about it).

It was a wonderful experience; I'm definitely hoping the delightful s00j will wander back to Lincoln (or Omaha, or possibly even Kansas/Missouri :3) again in the near future. The show was a huge warm fuzzy blanket of positive energy after a not-so-awesome day. So thank you S00j; you give the rest of us Skinny White Chicks the hopes that someday we can be as inspirational and wondrous as you are, and will no doubt continue to be.

(Also, in case you readers missed that link to find out more about Ms. Tucker and her musical delights, here it is).

I'm off to bed now; more on music and writing tomorrow, with a shiny special update in the morning hours (hopefully anyhoo!) Night night!

Writing Spaces, Furniture and Lots of Random Photos

So yesterday I was rambling on about my new desk chair, so I figured I'd take some pictures of it and the other random items of furniture that live in my writing space.


That's the chair as I bought it. It has wheels! :D

Here's a larger shot of the chair next to my desk where the magic (and by magic I mean procrastinating) happens:



Complete with laptop (with Diablo III wallpaper :3), half-drunk cup of tea, notebooks and a large assortment of pens, pencils and various nick-nacks.

Here's my DVD shelf/bookshelf:



Including my Buffy DVDs, Lord of the Rings books, DS games and Hamlet, my piggy bank.

Of course those aren't the only books I keep in my room:



I keep most of my graphic novels on this shelf; my Sandman books, some webcomic anthologies, and all my Buffy Season 8 books :3. Also of note are my Literature anthologies in the bottom right corner, which were Christmas gifts from my mother, and the ancient tome in the top right corner, which is a complete works of Shakespeare I bought in Wales years ago. It was printed in 1897 I believe, and it's one of my favorite books.




Here's my other bookshelf:



A little harder to see, but this is the shelf with most of my literature and old schoolbooks on it. I also have John's beautiful old copy of the Count of Monte Cristo on there, and, embarrassingly enough, a copy of Stephenie Meyer's Breaking Dawn. I only read it for the lolz, I swear. >_>...







And finally, the bulletin board of doom:



Featured items on the board include: My wordcount goals for July, the peacock feather I found when I was in scotland, pictures of me meeting Elijah Wood and Terry Pratchett, a calendar designed by my Aunt Jane, who holds the title of Coolest Nun Ever, and my signed Repo! The Genetic Opera leaflet.

So that's my nerd cred for the day. And my writing space. Where hopefully magic can occur once I actually focus.

More later probably, and an exciting update for tomorrow! I am plotting one! Be excited! Yay!



(Just a random picture of me before I headed out to work this morning. You know, just 'cause.)