lithera:
I'm over half done with Christmas shopping.

I have Kyna, Max, Eve, Brian, Ian, Ben, Meredith, my sister, her husband and Liam left...

And, of course, random presents for people I may have forgotten or I run into unexpectedly over the holidays.

*nods*

Okay. Ten people left.

kmarier, posting in nwsfs:

Harlan Ellison has been nominated for a Grammy, writerly Stockholm Syndrome and the 12 Days of Zombie Christmas (and aheck of a lot more) are down below...

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End transmission.

operations, posting in roleplayers:
Anyone in this community play Mage: the Awakening and have a copy of the ST screen?

I'd just like to know what stuff is summarized on it, and if it's worth buying for a game. Will it cut down on the book references during game enough?

turkish_coffee, posting in roleplayers:
So, I'm running a home brew game as the GM. I'm doing it through a forum, just so everyone can participate when they have time. We established a posting order and bla bla bla.

Anyway, I'm having trouble with one of my players.

He's one of my best friends, but he just doesn't seem good at role playing. The problem is that he doesn't know he's bad. (He doesn't think he's amazing, but he's unaware how bad he is). Now, it's not inherently awful. I'm looking for a nice way to suggest improvements to him.

Myself and the other players dislike his writing style (which isn't so much bad RPing), he asks dumb questions despite his intelligence score (it's to high for that). And it generally doesn't seem like he's paying attention. (He refers to someone as a "kind lady", after she tells a god to get his panties out of a bunch. ("[...] now please get your undergarments unwadded.") Said lady also openly insults him. Am I missing the nice here? He didn't make any indication that it was sarcastic, nor had his character used scarcasm before.

I'm not posting this in BRPS because I actually am looking for advice on how to deal with a player (and not just slog him, despite what I may have written).

lithera:

lithera:
Only 5 of them but here are what I have now.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/misscrankypants/sets/72157622928404844/

My garage has a secret ninja hiding place.

lithera:
So, I've been pretty calm through this entire house thing. It has been one of those things you're supposed to do when you grow up and I've always wanted a place I could modify and have to come back to and not worry that it might vanish. So, I've don that and now I have keys and...

Now, of course, I'm nervous and jumpy about things, which is amazingly stupid.

No. No, I don't know what is bothering me. It might just be moving. And while the new place has more space than where Kris and I are now, some of that is counted in the garage (which is pretty cool to have). And I have a little patch of grass and a patio and air conditioning and .... Lots of cool things but I'm suddenly freaking out that I have too much stuff and that things won't fit into the new place and AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

I guess it is a good thing that I know that most of this is absurd and I'm just having a backlash sort of reaction. I was calm and cool during the 'crisis' and now that it is over, I can allow myself to flail. That and there is a lot of stuff at work which I would like to run around and flail about but can't, so the house is convenient in that way.

It will be good for me to get away from Capitol Hill and convenience. It really isn't good for me to have everything so close and not have to work for everything. Besides, I'll be close to two different movie theaters and that's an awesome thing and just blocks away from one of the best cemetaries for picnicing ever.

Gah. Summary: I'm freaking out because I can now have the luxury of freaking out.

So, painting this weekend. Kris and I are looking to show up with loads of boxes around 10-ish. Let me know if you're coming and I'll send out directions. (So super easy to get there.)

phasmaphobic, posting in roleplayers:
Earlier this week I saw that there was now a Third Edition of Earthdawn on the shelf of my gaming store. I had no idea such a thing was in existence. Earthdawn was always one of my favorite settings. But try as I might to see around its flaws, the system has irked me since day one - primarily the enforced cookie-cutter nature of all characters that aren't human (among many others). I tried the 2nd Edition from Living Room Games, hoping it would fix some of these problems, but alas, no, the characters were all still just as generic as before.

So how is third edition different? How has it improved? Were there enough systemic changes in the game to actually warrant a complete new edition, when second edition and ED classic were both still being published by other publishers?

pacfenspotlight, posting in nwsfs:

It has been a long time since I have posted an episode. A good portion of the delay was in fact laziness but not so much these past three months. First I had four events within four weeks, then I got picked up as the design editor for a new magazine which took a lot of my available time. Then I had to find a way to provide a method of streaming the full episode as one episode rather than breaking it up into small chunks.

But the wait (for me at least) was worth it. Not only am I now able to provide episodes full length as a (pseudo) stream, I am now making each episode available for download in both Quicktime and Windows media, high and low resolutions.

The first new episode is the highlights from the last Emerald City ComiCon. Very late, I know but better late than never. This episode includes interviews with comic pros, and anecdotes and more with media guests Michael Hogan, Aaron Douglas, Tahmoh Penikett, and Wil Wheaton. Episode 201 Emerald City ComiCon 2009

The second episode is my coverage of RainFurrest. Also a bit late but again finding a streaming method had to happen. This episode includes a Q & A with Guests of Honor Farore Nightclaw and Nicodemus, the Fur Suit Parade, highlights from the variety show and two songs performed by Alexander James Adams. Episode 202 RainFurrest 2009

The next two episodes will cover VCON and the Sereniversary respectively. Future episodes will include interviews with Filk veterans Vixy and Tony, and Rustycon Guests of Honor James P. Blaylock, Theresa Mather, and David Glenn-Anderson.

lithera:
- Tonight is the amazing C.E. Murphy! It will be good to see her and get hugs.
- Tomorrow night I desire to tackle the kitchen some. Lots of glasses we don't ever use. Lots of silverware we don't use either. And At least one set of dishes (likely two) are going to be boxed in case of parties.
- Friday.... I don't know. Movie? Need some serious down time.

- Saturday, painting and first shipment of boxes and pictures and other wall hanging things.
- Sunday, Half Price Books run and game

- 18th - Avatar
- Some time in December: Have Goodwill/Salvation Army/Someone like that come and pick up loveseat, extra glasses, bookshelves, clothes and whatever other stuff Kris and I have decided not to move but, instead to give away.
- Get Hellboy, Iron Man, Flamebird and Shiva framed properly

chickosaurusrex, posting in roleplayers:

My boyfriend is running me a solo D&D game. However, we're starting to have issues deciding which system to run the game in. He's been using 4e, but recently he picked up Pathfinder and thinks he might prefer using that.

I want it to stay in 4e. We created a lot of house-rules and homebrew stuff to keep up with the whims of the story and I'm not certain I can really convert my character in a way I'll be happy with. I was also really looking forward to picking a paragon path and eventually an epic destiny. Besides that, my introduction to 3.5 was pretty crappy. I played for a year with a very unpleasant group, and through them I became intimately acquainted with the flaws and pitfalls of that system. I don't mind playing 3.x with a group of friends, but if I'm by myself I'm not sure I'll be able to look past those limitations and irritations.

My boyfriend doesn't mind 4e for groups, but for this solo game he wants to switch to Pathfinder. He played 3.5 for several years and feels very comfortable with the basics of the system. He also says it would be easier for him to create combat encounters this way, and we could get through the fights faster.

Anyway, I'm of course giving Pathfinder a shot before we come to a decision so our next five sessions will be in that system. I'm worried that at the end of this trial run we'll both feel exactly the same as we do now, though, and I'm not sure what do to then. It doesn't seem fair to force my boyfriend into using a system he's not comfortable with, but it's also not fair to force me to play in a system I'm not happy with.

Should I just give in and let him run the game in the system he wants? After all, he's doing more work creating the adventures and keeping up with my whims, so maybe I should just be grateful he's running game at all. Maybe I should just start pushing houserules for Pathfinder that would make me happier, or thinking up ways to make 4e combat easier for my boyfriend to run? I'm really not certain what a good compromise would be for this situation.

lithera:

Okay. I have a bunch of bottles that I either don't wear anymore or haven't ever really worn. Most of these smell great in the bottle but awful on me and are full but for the testing. I'm giving all of you folks who read my LJ a shot at them first. I'm open for trades or sales or something else. Make me an offer if you want something.

Daiyu
Elegba
Fearful Pleasure
Haloes
Lick It One More Time
Tokyo Stomp
Ophui
Phoenix Steamworks
Te Po
Tiki Queen
Upa Upa

And if anyone has a bottle of Huesos De Santo or knows where to find one, I've noticed I've stopped wearing this one out of fear that some day it'll go away.

phasmaphobic, posting in roleplayers:
My gaming group is heading in the direction of having their characters explore the ruins of ancient civilizations. In our homebrew fantasy campaign setting, this means "ancient civilizations that were ancient before history began." I'm excited about it, and want to get a head start on the prepwork. To do this, I'd like to get my hands on some modules from other games that explore this content. My FLGS has quite the extensive collection of games old and new, as well as gobs of old back issues of many gaming magazines.

So I come to you folks for suggestions. Any modules or published adventures of this sort spring to mind? System doesn't matter to me, as I'm primarily looking for inspiration, maps, treasures, ideas, and hints of adventure. Thanks!

lithera:
I have keys.

lithera:


Still good.

I think I need more Muppet icons.

lithera:
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/35243_Why_I_Parted_Ways_With_The_Right

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/12/leaving-the-right.html

I have a lot of thoughts on this but work is going to eat me alive shortly. Maybe I'll get a chance to talk to it later.

kmarier, posting in nwsfs:

There's a NWSFS outing on Wednesday to the Shanghai Chinese Restaurant near Olympia plus news about Abney Park, SFContario, several awards, oh and the d20 from ancient Rome?

( Local signals... )

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( Galactic transmissions... )

Oh, and there's new material over at seattlegeekly - and be sure to check out the Picture Unrelated.

setauuta:

I did it I did it I DID IT HOLY CRAP LIONS I DID IT! See icon.

I had to remove all contractions from the story, actually write out all dates (October twenty-sixth, two thousand and five), and add about three epilogues (including a "ten years later"), but BY GOD I DID IT!

Imma crash now. G'night!

lithera:
Well, that's over. I am very burnt out from the last six days of work but it is totally worth it right now.

I paid off all but one of my credit cards (and that one is very small).

And tomorrow I've been told I will have keys.

I'm excited but the excitement is running up against the looming packing and moving that comes with it. I'm sure I'll be more excited once I'm done with getting everything set up and moved and installed and delivered and the frenzy that comes with all of those things.

Anyone up for some painting this weekend?

lithera:

I would like to show you the hotness.

http://superherohype.com/news/ironmannews.php?id=8878

Seriously.

I'll wait for you to go look and come back.