An Overdue Update

It has been a while, hasn't it. Neglecting my blog I have been, yes. Well, let's see...

My brother-in-law and my sister are back home now, after their ordeal in NYC. His leg is mangled from the surgery. They didn't put it in a cast, oddly enough. Instead they cut him open and permanently bolted a steel rod to his leg bones. An "internal cast" if you will. He will now set off metal detectors for the rest of his life. He was very glad to finally get home and is now most likely playing World of Warcraft until his brains ooze out his ears. His most profound statement regarding his misfortune? "This fuckin' sucks! I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy!" Tell us how you really feel, mon frère...

Last weekend was the Pre-Release Tournament for the latest Magic the Gathering set. You non-Card Floppers can skip to the next paragraph, as I am about to engage in some serious Magic Geek Talk. The format of the tourney was sealed deck and my card pool wasn't particularly amazing. No Planeswalkers or real game enders (also known as bombs). The best card I pulled was a Mutavault, which is handy, but hardly game breaking. Not in sealed deck, anyway. I have a wicked cool idea for a constructed deck built around it, though. Have to try that when time permits. Anyway, I ended up winning the first match 2-1 with an aggressive black/red build full of Goblin and Fairie Rogues. I ended up with a surprising amount of creature removal spells that way, so I was able to decimate my opponent's forces quite effectively. This allowed me to crush him under a horde of my sneaky minions. Unfortunately, we had to leave after the first round to go watch my step-son play in a basketball game. At least we got to keep the new cards. My wife didn't do as well in her match, but she wound up with a couple of really nice new cards (a legendary elf for her elf deck that's just freakin' scary and a big-ass Elemental for another deck of hers). All in all, a good day.

And speaking of basketball, I'm not a huge fan of it, or any other modern team sport for that matter. I consider most athletes, especially high school athletes, to be nothing more than arrogant, abusive bullies. I suffered their "loving" attentions all through school and could watch those people be torn apart by wild dogs with a happy smile on my face. Am I bitter? Hell, yes, and with good reason. I will admit, however, that my step-son shows a lot of promise in the athletic arena. He's a sixth-grader that occasionally gets to play on the middle school varsity basketball team (7th and 8th graders). And he holds his own, usually. But during the game we went to on Saturday, he made a 3-point shot that was nothing less than amazing. Even I was impressed and that is saying something. Way to go, Kid! Now don't get cocky...

We have a regional rapier practice coming up tomorrow. It's about 4 hours away, though, so we'll have to leave out way too damn early in the morning to get there at a decent time. The things we do for our art... But, we do need to hone our skills. With Gulf Wars coming up soon, we need all the honing we can get. "Gulf Wars?", says you. "The biggest SCA event in the Southeast," says I. It's an official Big Deal to us, especially since I'm the current General of my Kingdom's rapier forces and my wife, Ysabel, is one of my sub-commanders. I'm of the belief that fortune favors the prepared and so off to the Regional Practice we go. Of course, fortune also favors those who get enough sleep, but you can't have everything I suppose.

And that is what is going on in my wonderful life at the moment. Exciting, huh?

And Now For Some Bad News

My sister called me this morning on the way to work. It was kind of eerie, actually, because as cold as it was, I was wearing a hat, which precludes me from wearing my cell phone ear piece. Anyway, the car had just warmed up enough for me to shuck the hat and even though nobody ever calls me that early in the morning, I felt like I needed to put my ear piece in. Not a minute after I did so, it rings. Spooky.

Oh, that's right, you wanted to hear the bad news. Well, it turns out that she was on her way to the airport in Nashville because my brother-in-law, who is a truck driver, was at a stop in New York City, when he was struck by a car. Not his truck. Him. He was directing traffic while his partner backed the truck up into a difficult loading dock when some idiot came flying out of nowhere and hit him. Apparently, there were no internal injuries and no head trauma, but his leg is broken in three places below the knee. He's in the hospital up there awaiting surgery. Not exactly the best way to start your day, ya know. And my sister has to drop everything to go up there. She's in college, so missing that much time is highly detrimental. Hopefully the damned fool that hit him had insurance, because he's going to get the crap sued out of him. Bet on it.

Dance, Dance De-evolution

We went to an SCA event Saturday. It's called Saltare and it's a collegium for all things dancin' in our time period. Mostly renaissance era European and Middle-Eastern belly dancing. I don't dance much (if at all) myself, but it was nice to see everyone that showed up. Even met some nice folks that were new. Listening to the Middle Eastern drumming reminded me of when I was sorta into that waaaay back when I first started in the SCA. We had a group in Atlantia that could drum up a storm. Kind of lost interest in it when I moved to Meridies, but I still remember sitting around a campfire late into the night and bringing forth a sound that throbbed and rolled like constant thunder. The rhythms were powerful and full of an energy unlike anything else in the world. Like the mythical Force of Star Wars fame, it penetrated us and bound us together with each other, the dancers, the fire, the trees, the earth and the stars. I never really got very good at drumming and I'm content to not be involved in it now, but those were good times to be sure.

The European dancing was ok. Fun to watch, at least. You tend to have a mix of a few really, really dedicated dancers who are very good and a lot of new or occasional dancers who... well, aren't. As you can imagine, this leads to some very interesting interactions on the dance floor. The term "train wreck" sometimes applies quite nicely. But other times they actually manage to pull off some pretty good moves.

Mostly we just went there to socialize, which we did. It pays to keep up with what's going on around the Kingdom. Information can be more precious than gold and jewels in the right hands. That's just an added bonus, though. The real prize is friendship and camaraderie. You can never have too much of those.

The Day of Chaos

I am exhausted. Chaos has a way of doing that to a person. Today has been devoted almost entirely to discord, anarchy and upheaval of all sorts. It started the minute I got out of bed. The older two children were in a panic because the school bus never arrived to pick them up. I'm assuming it broke down. I was cranky, they were cranky, everyone was cranky, but I got them to school on time. Unfortunately, this little adventure threw my morning routine in the toilet and I was late to work. Of course, today was the day that everything hit the fan there as well. Broken applications, moronic customers and stressed out co-workers abounded. Then the weather turned ugly. Strong storms came raging through in the afternoon, knocking out the power in some parts of town and causing a spike in the power at our building. In the process of protecting our servers, we managed to melt (yes, melt) a circuit breaker box outside. Time to call an electrician. They were still working on it when I left for our Shire meeting (that's part of my SCA involvement, just so you know). The meeting was long and involved a lot of back and forth on several issues, but at least there was food. There are advantages to meeting at a Shoney's. And to top it all off, I have developed a toothache from Hell. I haven't had a toothache in ages. WTF? The best thing I can say about today is that it's nearly over. Eris, the Goddess of Discord, can freakin' move along now. She's more than worn out her welcome. She and Loki can go visit some other deserving schmuck and leave us alone for a change. Let the tempest abate, the turbulent waters calm and my spinning thoughts descend into blessed, dreamless sleep. I'm done. Finished. Taken all I care to take. Good-bye Jan. 10th, 2008 and good riddance.

The Unquiet Whispers

They have come again. The unquiet whispers of other worlds that rise up in my head from time to time, demanding to be heard. Stories of fantastic happenings in realms far removed from our own dull reality. They want to be shared, experienced by others, made real by the alchemy of language and prose. It is up to me to release them from their prison of vague and shapeless walls. But I can't. I don't know why, but the gate is locked and barred. Rusted shut perhaps from disuse as I run here and there on errands of mundane necessity. I want to heed their cries for freedom. To put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard and let the stories come running helter-skelter into glorious existence. They deserve to be told and the pressure of them rises to an almost painful crescendo now. But the whispers will subside again, I know. Drowned out by other concerns, other interests, other obligations. I'll let them fade, sadly. It is the story of my life.

Glad Tydings, Poor Health

We went to Glad Tydings, a nice little Winter event in the Shire of Vulpine Reach, over the weekend. No fighting, just a nice relaxing social gathering with classes and revelry. Got to talk to people we hadn't seen in a while, which is always nice. A special thank you to Ursus and Svana for letting us crash at their place for two whole nights. You guys are the best!

Sadly, I came down with some crud that's been going around about halfway through the weekend. I feel like poo. I guess good has to be balanced by bad, but that doesn't make me feel any better. I suspect the universe is laughing at me.

Wings of Change

Well, the New Year is here, at least on the Gregorian calendar. We actually managed to do some major house cleaning and rearranged our downstairs living room over the long weekend. We got rid of some clutter, making room for new things to come into our home. Change is in the air and the new year is rife with promise. Time to shake off the stupor of the holidays and get busy. I always have felt more alive when I get to make changes to my environment now and then. Back when I was a kid I would rearrange my bedroom at least twice a year, just to keep it from stagnating. My wife doesn't care for change the way I do. I swear she has an Elvish soul. Or perhaps Mimbari. Can you tell that we've been watching our Babylon 5 dvds a lot lately. Just recently got all 5 seasons... but I digress. Uncomfortable as it may be sometimes, change is essential and unavoidable. If there is but one eternal truth in the universe(s), it is that change will come. So, we might as well embrace the good and learn to endure the bad because we can't escape it. In Native American lore, the Raven Spirit is a harbinger of change, among His many other roles. There are times I can almost hear the beat of His wings as reality shifts around me. A new start, a fresh and vibrant dawn, a world filled with exciting possibilities! What's not to like? Happy New Year everyone!