Whispers in the Windstorm

First, I'm in a Champions of Kamigawa release event online right now. My rares are:

He Who Hungers (foil)
Iname, Death ASpect
Takena, Samurai General
Imi Status
Moonring Mirror

Blah.

So where I left off was Wednesday afternoon. Sheesh, that's a long time ago. (Won my first round against a W/B player.) Last you heard, I was working and getting ready to go home for dinner and Scrabble. Dinner was GREAT. The three of us went out to Fritzl's, a very nice German restaurant. I went out on a limb and had the Jaeger Schnitzel - basically breaded veal with a wild mushroom sauce. Excellent. I also got to order schnitzel with the spaezel. Very phlegmy. But we also had a quite enjoyable conversation as well. I felt pretty mature, even if I was talking to the parents I live with.

Home and two excellent games of Scrabble with my dearest - who was unfortunately distracted by the fact that her hometown Cardinals were beaten 4-0 by the Red Sox. While I, as a Cubs fan, do like the Red Sox, as they are equally cursed, I was sympathetic for the Cards, too. Awww. So we chatted for a while, and then I actually don't remember what I did after that. Possibly KOTOR, as I'm trying to drive to the finish line in Dark side before KOTOR 2 comes out. Sleep briefly.

Thursday was acceptably uneventful. I had a totally fun lunch where I ate the second half of the schnitzel and read the next section of Gilgalen's background. Very good stuff! It's kind of a shame that he can't get introduced quite yet - but just means more time to bake until he's fully toasted. Oh, and I gotta say that Subway subs are okay toasted. I never thought Quizno's was so special for toasting things, but now they're even LESS special. :)

Thursday night gaming. Brian, Ernie, and Dennis (who plays a lot of the mini games I don't play, so it's a rarity for us to play a game together). But first, I bought some packs of Reflections for LOTR. I don't have the order down any more - I sorted them, sorry - but here's what I found in ONE pack of Reflections. Oddly enough, there were NO Reflections cards in it - but I don't care one bit.

Egclaf, Courageous Farmer - FOIL
You're a Liar and a Thief - FOIL
Don't Follow the Lights - FOIL
Isengard Tinker - FOIL
Legolas' Sword - FOIL
Balglin, Elven Warrior - FOIL
Horn of Helm - FOIL
Ulaire Nertea, WInged Hunter - FOIL
Forearmed - FOIL
Easterling Polearm - FOIL
Durin's Tower - RARE FOIL
Held - RARE FOIL
Winged and Ominous - RARE FOIL
Master Broke His Promise - RARE FOIL
Break the Charge (AI) - RARE FOIL
Desert Stalker - RARE FOIL
Foul Gorde (AI) - RARE FOIL
Army of Haradrim (AI) - RARE FOIL

And the Foul Horde looks pretty awesome. My first-ever god pack, and it was quite a moment. Whoo-hoooo! Anyway, we introduced Dennis to German games with the classic - Settlers of Catan. He won it, but I'm thinking it was more because 6 came up a heck of a lot more than 8. Hmph.

(Oops - Round 2 is starting. Back soon.)

Crap. Lost it to a green critter who needs multiple blockers - and my guys were black "can't block" guys. Oh well. 1-1 is not a bad record.

Then we played Apples to Apples after Dennis left. It was a good time (as Apples to Apples always is), and we talked for a while and then ditched. I recall having to go to the bathroom as I was driving home, and I took my mind off it by calling Chris and talking to him for 45 minutes. What a trooper! After I got home, I sat down with Sony's Sound Forge for a project I've been thinking about for a month now. It was surprisingly easy to get the basic form together - I'll probably do it again when I'm more certian how I want it to sound. But here's the preliminary form. I was really happy with it, and I pestered my local Matt (as opposed to GM Matt, who didn't even SHOW UP at 3AM - the nerve) to listen to it, even though he really has no interest in the game. Thanks, man. :) Then I waited a little longer, and Karen showed up. That was cool. Then I went to bed somewhere around 5AM. I'm like that.

Friday was an unusual day, good and bad. Work was pure nothing. Bits and pieces of page counting, but that got out of the way fairly soon. During lunch, I drove down to Glenview for a bit, but midway there, my car's engine light came on. It ran out of coolant about 8 months ago, and the car started smoking. So I was relatively confident that it was a sloooooow coolant leak, and that I could handle it at a gas station. So I called Dad to confirm the problem, and he insisted I put water in it right away - a good idea. So I filled up a Snapple bottle and a Pepsi bottle at the water fountain in the building, and I put about 3ish quarts in. That got me back to work.

After work, I stopped at a gas station and got coolant. I'd never SEEN coolant before so up close, so I called Dad to confirm that it should be a gooey green. Dad confirmed this, but then told me I shouldn't be putting coolant in, as I could have a monster leak and could just be pouring coolant on the ground. I was trying to get to Be A Gamer before 7PM, though - sort of in a hurry. So I kind of blew that off, even though I did have a logical reason for being more trusting in the car. He was a little piqued at that. Wahh. So I started driving. Immediately, I took the wrong turn, which cost me a swing around Dundee and Pfingsten. I-294 was a little crowded, and I-90 was okayyyyy. I talked to Dad again. He said Mom was miffed at my rather flagrant use of the car for personal reasons when it wasn't doing so hot. I thought more clearly about this this time, and responded that the car had ABSOLUTELY no coolant put in for at least three months, if not longer. So the only circumstance that might dictate cuation was a tremendous acceleration in the leak, which I believed unlikely. And as it happens, I was right. He was only okay about it - he's very sensitive about following his advice. You really can't disagree with him (in his mind) without him thinking you don't care about him as a person. Sighhhh. So that went blag. Then I called Myra, as she was on the road to St. Louis for the weekend. She was doing well for a long drive, and we talked for the rest of the trip to BaG. I got there at 7:04, but they were still wide open, despite Ken's email saying "DON'T GO TO BE A GAMER - THEY'RE CLOSED". (Caps were used.) So anyway, Charlie shows up in a minute or two, and Ken soon after. Siighhhh. Silly people. I picked up the EQ RPG main book, the Exalted books for Aspect of Air and Aspect of Fire, the card game Modern Art, a booster of LOTR click-tech, a starter for Spycraft (which I still haven't played), and Fluxx 3.0, which has some cool new cards.

We went over to Ken's house after that. And drove through quite possibly one of the nastiest cloudbursts I've ever driven through. I've seen one as hard, but it didn't last nearly as long. And Charlie and I don't know the way to Ken's house, so we had to follow Ken's tail lights. My windshield has some interior misting problems, so oncoming headlights SUCK in rain that bad. It was quite disturbing. But it was late and not many people were as foolish as we were to be on the road, so we got there in safety. Yayyy! Then we opened stuff we'd bought and I showed them Foamy strips. Ken showed me how CoH plays (kind of cool, but I'm still not getting involved), and we left. Got home and played some KOTOR, watched bits of Prince of Tides with Mom, and traded songs with Talen. Went to sleep somewhere around 5AM, and for once woke up after 1PM. I -never- get to do that. :)

So today, I've been playing a Kamigawa release event online, and I suspect I'm going to Walker's with Mom afterwards. Coooool. Then I might go to Mike Selk's house. Tomorrow I gotta figure out how to get out of the house between 2PM and 9PM.

Hooligans.

Rats. Lost the match. But now I get to go to Walker's. Yayyyyy!

Eat Snacky Smores.

Ah, sweet all-nighters. Twice in the past three months, I have made the enormously wise choice not to go to sleep. I'm just too busy - or too lazy - sometimes to turn everything off and go to bed. But let us review Wednesday night, Thursday and Friday morning.

And by the way, I want to clarify that I am not getting tired of my journal or anything, just because I've only made serious entries on Monday, Wednesday and Friday for this week. I just got busy at work and Tuesday and Thursday evenings aren't terribly accessible to me. So I was forced to save 'em up for when I had time.

After work (which I stayed at until 6:30), I went home and talked with Myra, playing two games of Scrabble (1-1, with an awfully close second game). We watched the Red Sox beat the Yankees (Whooo-hooo!) and we talked for a while, then she went to bed. I'm not sure I remember when </a></b></a>lori came online, but we had QUITE the interesting and varied conversation, as she herself will tell you. I think I'm just rather good at offering a somewhat non-judgmental point of view sometimes, which is one of the best ways to elicit openness and communication. I think that, if I were any less opposed to alcohol, I'd be a pretty darn good bartender. Heck, maybe I actually would be - it's not like I would swipe any product or anything. :) But we traded a few good songs, a few good stories, and I concluded the conversation by cowing her into meek acceptance. ;P (Oh, and I wish to issue an official correction on behalf of my brother - his Doctor Who collection is flawlessly organized and stored. Pity I can't find what I need anyway - must be my ever-errant vision or something. Key to something, something Key... what was that again? Hmmm.)

Anyway, that particular conversation concluded around 3:30AM. After that, I played some MTGO, installed Lord of the Rings Online and looked at the spoilers for Shadows, and cleaned up my room a bit. But I checked the board at 4:30, literally just as I was considering taking a slight nap - and I see Garvey online! I soon am chatting away with him as well, providing welcome relief to his busy evening/morning working on school projects. His wife had sensibly gone to bed several hours ago, and while I'm not surprised she allowed him to remain awake to finish his work, I am surprised that she would permit such fancies as AIM to be left on during this vital crunch time. Go Gaja! (Even though your web page still refers to Matt as your fiance.) I'm still looking forward to the first pictures from your photography class. But Matt welcomed the relief I provided, and we spoke briefly. After that, I watched Galaxy Quest and began harvesting cards from my VTES collection for a deck design I wanted to put together for that evening's festivities. It's a nice anti-Toreador affair, but I'm missing a vampire for it. Rats. But I got out of the door reasonably on time. The drive to work and Thursday morning were a bit nerve-wracking, as I was actually suddenly quite tired. But as I got closer to lunch (which I had originally intended to nap through), I found myself gaining energy. And so when lunch got around, it felt natural to just go out and have Baja Fresh and read from Fanfare for the Area Man. (I'd get Democracy Inaction, but it's kind of pricey. Dunno.) After I came back - sigh - I got tired again for a while, but nothing too bad. Then, work is done! Yayyy! I drive down to Games Plus, saying hi along the way. Brian and Ernie are there, and </a></b></a>rich and </a></b></a>noel show up soon afterwards. The breakdown of the game:

A) Brian, playing Tremere. Go figure. This one is a standard Talaq-plays-Burst-of-Sunlight thing.
B) Rich, playing Brujah/Anti-Brujah extra strikes stuff. At least it's not extra strikes/AGG.
C) Noel, playing a vote deck. Yayyyyy. (Sigh.)
D) Ernie, playing Tzimisce. Not sure what he was doing - Noel is funny about not letting her prey do anything like what they were intending to do. They tend not to sit down to a game as to a short yet painful death.
E) Myself, playing anti-Ventrue and Salubri. I saw a Salubri hit the table, and it was cool doing stuff like Anesthetic Touch and Sight Beyond Sight and Repulsion. But it didn't go far enough. I think the next one I'll try for the scarce clans is True Brujah.

Only casualty was Ernie - between votes and bleeds, he didn't stand much of a chance. But after that, most of us had our stuff together enough to prevent more lawnmowing. I'm still somewhat surprised every time Noel thinks she's got the ENTIRE TABLE - three players' layouts, deck types, and hands - in her head, makes a big move, and gets surprised by ONE detail which screws it all up. I really don't think, when a game turns into a 3-on-1 situation (as a vote deck running the table is wont to do), that one person can really hope to take on three players and be successful. Perhaps as a straight bleed deck (though don't get me started on stealth/bleed) might be able to - but if you throw politics in the mix as well, not sure what can be done. And she gets SOOOOO mad about it, too. It really puts a damper on in-game chatter, which is quite a pity.

Anyway, afterwards, we went outside and watched Jon Stewart beat up the Crossfire hosts on Brian's laptop. (No, I'm not linking it. Just go Google "Jon Stewart Crossfire" and you'll find it.) Kind of funny - but then again, it was just more of the same. People have this weird feeling that the august Mr. Stewart 'destroyed' the hosts. But what kind of TV is Crossfire, anyway? All they want is argumentation and controversy. All they did in having Mr. Stewart there is temporarily appeal to a larger audience. They didn't learn anything from that - except maybe that getting themselves hit attracts ratings as much as having the guests get hit. Me, I just ignore the whole 'news' thing for the most part. NPR and the front pages of the Chicago papers is about it. And even NPR ain't perfect.

Drove home, chatted with Selyna again, though not nearly so long and wonderfully - as I was getting tired at long last. I cleaned off the bed (or at least the right side) and went to sleep. Luxuriant that it was, but brief.

Today's been pretty reasonable. Filled up two trash cans with page counting stuff, and I've got an hour to write material for Blood Loyalties and post to the Private Threads. I've been a little focused on ACD at the expense of my own game. Sorry, folks. Riding/driving with Dad tonight to Chris' place. Yayyy, Chris! (Even if you are an old fogy.)

Oh, and A) I caught up with page counting today, and B) I found the receipt for the book-on-tape I've been listening to! Woohoooo! I'm stopping at Barnes & Noble tonight to get a new one.

Eat Snacky Smores.

Hello, avid readers!

Well, Collateral was quite a good movie. Tom Cruise usually does at least passable work, at least when he's trying to do someone with a cool and confident attitude. Jamie Foxx is actually pretty good. (But then again, I go to the movies to BE entertained, not to find fault, so my reviews are usually nicer than those of my contemporaries.)

After that, we went to Walker Brothers, home of the best pancakes this side of Mount Olympus. (Put it this way - Mom, Dad and Chris went to Walker Brothers on Saturday, and when I asked on Sunday, the only question was whether Dad would come with us - and he did. They're that good. Then we came back home and I fooled around with a combination of Okage, SW Battlefront and MTGO. Played an incredibly amusing game of Magic, two-headed giant. Somewhere about four to eight Beacons of Immortality played - PER SIDE. My partner would play Beacon of Creation, and the other team would play Wrath or Vengeance. Our opponents played Standstill - with NOTHING on the board! They continued to Vengeance/destroy our creatures - after they'd crossed into 1,000 life points and more! It started annoying, as my partner told me that he had to -unblock- one of our opponents, so he was pretty confident we were facing blue steal. I would say literally ten turns per player got eaten up with draw-go thanks to that Standstill. I managed to hold my partner off until they broke it themselves - with a Madness-inspired (and I'm not really kidding) Obsessive Search. Not an Armageddon, not an Upheaval - a stupid draw-one-discard-one. The game became quite comical, actually - it finally ended with my partner getting Opportunitied out of the game, myself pulling the Phage/Endless Whispers combo on one of theirs, and a final game loss by decking, as the opponent had two cards in deck. I should have cast Phage on my second-to-last turn - not sure what I was holding out for. Sigh.

I was starting to develop a rarity for me - a rather nasty headache. It came on slow, but really started ramping up on me as I was playing Literati. I took some Advil - something I haven't probably done since my last bout of sciatica - and then laid down for an hour. I felt better, and wasn't tired, so I played more MTGO and finally cleaned all the unmatched socks off my bed. Next stop - the laundry all over the floor. :)

The morning was nice. Showered, little traffic, work was three cover letters and a few labels. Looking forward to pelting Garvey (there, Matt, I said it again - and I know too many Matts) with nags after he gets in - both about the ACD game and that I have installed ActivePerl and might get the script running tonight with his cooperation. I also need to spend some time scoping out Selyna's online games, and I have responses to write for Demon and Cthulhu. Ah, a busy morning at work.

Eat Snacky Smores.