Another Milestone

As of Saturday, September 26th 2009, I have been alive for four decades. I've lived through some serious history on this chaotic dirtball of a planet and some really screwed up things that have happened to me personally. Turning forty is something that, in my youth, I couldn't have imagined. One never thinks about getting old when one is a teen or even a twenty-something. Now, I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, my body is definitely not what it used to be (which was never very good to begin with, really) and there is a sense that I have wasted my youth without much to show for it. On the other hand, I'm rather proud that I've managed to survive to this point and things could be (and have been) much, much worse. I know that there are still many good things to come, but there is also the fear of what could go so suddenly and catastrophically wrong. As I said, mixed feelings.

All that aside, I did have a pretty good day for my birthday. We started the day with some geeky fun at a "pre-release" tourney for the latest Magic the Gathering set (Zendikar). I love the way this set plays! The setting is awesome and the new rules click for me very well. I got some very good cards, won a couple of rounds before we dropped to go do other things and had a couple of very impressive plays. After that, we went home and picked up the kids to go meet people at Red Robin for dinner. The plan was to eat, hit a nearby bookstore (I love browsing the shelves in the sci-fi/fantasy section) and then head out to Dave and Busters for some evening entertainment. Unfortunately, it being a Saturday night, Dave and Busters was a little too popular. It was so crowded that we decided to forgo that plan in favor of a much less frequented bowling alley a few minutes from the mall. The place turned out to be nearly empty and most of the people that were there were old even compared to me. I was glad that there weren't very many witnesses to see how much I suck at bowling. I throw to the left so badly that nearly every throw was a gutterball. I did manage one strike, at the very end of the last game. I was starting to get the hang of it, I think. Of course, by then my wrist was aching and my back was twinging something fierce. Oh, yeah, I'm forty all right.

I got a couple of gift cards for various restaurants and Ysabel got me the entire Kung Fu series on dvd (the old 70's show with David Carradine), which was one of the main inspirations for me to get into martial arts when I was a kid. By the time we got home, it was too late for cake, but we made up for it Sunday night after we got home from rapier practice. I love me some cheesecake and white chocolate raspberry cheesecake is even better! So, overall, a good weekend, with only a few minor issues to speak of (which I won't). If I live another forty years, I'll be surprised, but what's important is that life now ain't half bad and I have hope that it will continue to stay that way.

Autumn's Grace

Today is the Autumnal Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere. It is a time of balance between day and night, when Summer fades and we begin the slow slide toward the long, dark months of Winter. The modern Pagan Wheel of the Year calls today Mabon. It is the second of three harvest festivals that celebrate the bounty of the Earth Mother and the imminent death of the Sun God on Samhain (Oct. 31st). He is reborn on Yule (the Winter Solstice) when the Wheel turns and the days start growing longer again. As the leaves fall from the trees and the night air grows chill, I hope that everyone is able to enjoy this harvest season with warmth, comfort and good fellowship. Happy Mabon!

Weekend of Woe

Holiday weekends are supposed to be fun and relaxing, right? This past one was anything but. Friday night consisted of everyone being in such a foul mood that we cancelled our plans to play cards. I'd been looking forward to trying out the new Magic variant, Planechase, but it was simply not to be. I was understandably disappointed.

On Saturday, we went to an SCA event and I wound up fighting worse than I have in a while. My heart just wasn't in it. Got hit in the same spot where I cracked a rib last Spring and also ended up straining a muscle above my left knee. Both still hurt more than they should right now. Thanks to my weakened leg, I learned an important lesson in balance and tempo when I tried to shift the weight off of it just as my opponent was launching a shot. With all my weight going forward onto my front leg, I couldn't back up to avoid the hit. It was nice to see everyone at the event, but by the time we went home I was not in the best of shape.

Sunday we did manage to sleep in a bit and get some rest. To be honest the first half of the day is kind of a blur. I know I finished off the book I've been reading (Mistborn, by Brandon Sanderson), which was good. In the evening we finally got to play the new Planechase set. Played two games, lost two games. It was a preview of how Monday was going to go.

Monday (Labor Day) morning around 4:30am, my pager went off. There was an issue at work and since I was the on-call person until 7am that morning, I got to try and deal with it. Well, it turned out to be something I couldn't fix, but that didn't stop me from trying. For three hours. By the time 7:30 rolled around, I was at the end of my rope. I left messages for my bosses, telling them I had done everything I could and it was the next guy's turn. Then I went back to bed and dozed fitfully until about noon. Not exactly restful sleep. Then I got up and we got started putting together the step-son's new basketball goal. Little did I know that these new goals require a mechanical engineering degree to assemble. It took us close to four hours of sweating, cursing and the occasional bit of improvisation to get the stupid thing done. Then I had to run to the store for light bulbs, break out the ladder and replace all the bulbs in our stairwell ceiling fan. This generally requires leaning out over a long drop to get to all of them. Did I mention that tall ladders give me serious vertigo? I was shaking and sweating even more by the time that was done. But, no rest for the wicked! I barely had time to shower before we had to head out for Shakespeare in the Park. They were doing "The Complete Works of Shakespeare: Abridged". It was funny, I will admit. Under better circumstances, I might have enjoyed it more. As it was, it took me a while to relax and appreciate the humor.

This morning, I get to work and find out that the problem that had plagued me the previous morning had taken three people until 9pm last night to fix. The client had been down all day and was not happy. I kind of feel like it's my fault somehow, even though I know it's not. So much for being refreshed and ready to take on the rest of the week after a holiday weekend. And it doesn't look like things are going to calm down for the next several days.

Across the Multiverse!

I don't know about you, but I find this grimy, unforgiving world we live in to be just a tad on the oppressive side sometimes. It is, therefore, a good thing when an opportunity comes along to escape it for a while. Books and movies are, of course, the primary vehicle for such a journey these days, but they aren't the only ones. Games, too, have become a way for us to explore the realms of the imagination and, unlike the other media, which allow us only to observe, games can let us interact with these worlds in a more satisfying way. Case in point, Magic the Gathering (what, you thought I was talking about World of Warcraft?). This card game has taken me on quite a wild ride over the years. I started playing about a year after the game's inception and it has been an on again, off again companion ever since. Recently, the gaming wizards responsible for producing Magic have come up with a unique new idea for us to enjoy. You see, the gist of the game's concept is that each player is a "Planeswalker", a being who is born with a special 'spark' that allows them to navigate between different realities, gathering magical power as he/she/it goes. This is represented by the collection of cards one gathers over time. New sets with new abilities come out every so often to keep the game fresh. However, the worlds themselves, the "planes" of reality where this all takes place have never been integrated into the gameplay as actual cards. Now they have. As a variant to the basic game, you can now buy "planes cards" that you can use to "planeswalk" during the course of the game. Each world has an effect on the game rules, but to me that's secondary. What is primary is that you actually feel like you are battling a rival "planeswalker" across a Multiverse of unique worlds during the course of the game. And that is just Fantasy Gamer Nerd Heaven! :)

I don't mean to sound like an advertisement for the game maker, but the new cards come out today and I'm fairly excited about getting to play with them tonight. I know what you are thinking. I'm too old to be into this kind of thing, right? Well, maybe. But maybe imagination isn't something that should only be the province of youth. I'll take my "weird" hobbies over boring mundanity any day.

Desperately Seeking Inspiration

So, I'm trying to come up with an entry for a monthly "Flash Fiction" contest on one of the SciFi/Fantasy sites that I frequent. The theme this month is "Super Powers" and I have to admit, this one has me stumped. It's going to be a real challenge to come up with something original in a genre that has been done to death. I have one idea that sounds good in theory, but the execution is proving to be a bit tricky. If I'm not careful, I'll have another flop on my hands. I tend to either do really well or completely flub it. There's rarely an in between with my stories. Well, nothing for it but to try and crank something out in the next little while, I suppose. Maybe if I just go with my gut and then polish it from there, it won't turn out too badly. Wish me luck!