The Principles of Aquisition

As a follow up to my musings regarding the power of material possessions, I just wanted to share some of the items that have mysteriously (not really) appeared in our home lately. Since my last post we have managed to purchase, through various means, a new sectional sofa complete with two recliners and a hide-a-bed, a 42" flat screen HDTV, a new entertainment center, an Xbox 360 (courtesy of my step-son), new landscaping for a problematic patio in front of the house and various and sundry smaller items such as new dvd's and games. We've also managed to pay off one of our more vexing credit cards. When life starts going this well, I get nervous. Surely something is going to go horribly wrong and put us even farther in debt than we've ever been before. Nothing comes without cost and I'm not just talking about money. I'm waiting for the bomb to drop and wipe out all of our gains. Paranoid? Maybe. But I've seen it happen too often to trust in fate. In the meantime, though, I'm more than happy to kick back in my recliner and play new video games in high definition on my new big screen tv. Oh, yeah, baby!!

The Power of Material Things

It's amazing how much power physical possessions can have over us. We get into routines of need and want that are very hard to break sometimes. Our material existence is bound up with all kinds of strange devices that are supposed to bring us comfort and make our lives more satisfying. For the most part, having nice things is... well, nice, but if we dwell too much on the items that we want and, for lack of money or availability, can't get, then it can be a terribly frustrating ordeal. There is a large list of fairly expensive things that we have been wanting to purchase for quite some time. Some are things that I want and my wife doesn't really care about and, of course, there are some that she thinks are necessities that I find kind of pointless. But in the end, we usually manage to agree that we need/want x items in the near future. This has proven to be an ongoing battle with temptation. We already have a significant amount of debt that eats into our monthly budget. We don't want to incur more right now. However, that big screen lcd tv has been waiting for us to give it a home for a couple years now, our king size mattress is getting lumpy and uncomfortable, our downstairs sectional couch is falling apart, our fridge is getting on in years, it would be really nice to remodel the downstairs bathroom, etc., etc., ad nauseum. So we debate endlessly on how to go about spending our money and very little actually gets bought that isn't an immediate need. And so the frustration at our lack of progress builds. I don't blame my wife. She and I have both been burned before by over-extending our finances. I try to tell myself that it's only "stuff" and it's not that important. But we have been raised in a culture that places great value on possessions, however shallow that may be in the grand scheme of life. I should be above that nonsense, but part of me is vulnerable to it. It's difficult to admit to oneself that buying frivolous stuff makes one happy and fills a void of sorts. I think it has a lot to do with the sense of power that comes with finally getting something that has been out of reach for so long. My wife fusses at me for "beating a dead horse" every time I mention making certain large purchases that we have been putting off. I know it's irritating to her to hear me gripe about such things. I hope she can forgive that particular character flaw because, in the final tally of success in this life, her happiness means far more to me than all the gadgets and physical comforts in the world.

I Need Serenity...

For those of you familiar with the Firefly series and it's big screen follow up, Serenity, you may want to check out the pen and paper RPG version. We are planning a role-playing campaign using that setting and rule set and it looks to be a hoot. The rule book is written with the same wry humor of the source material and it gives some very in-depth information about the game world. I've already got a character in mind, a big, burly security type. Pretty standard with a couple of twists (always got to have twists, after all). Haven't got all the wrinkles worked out just yet, but I'm already looking forward to playing. We are just tiny little bundles of hopes and fears floating through the Black, but with a good ship and solid crew, no power in the 'Verse can stop us! Shiny!

Malicious Microorganisms

Once again, I have been assaulted by germy invaders that delight in tormenting me. A viral sinus infection, the doctor says. Nothing serious enough to be life threatening, of course. Not much the medical community can do about it. Just tough it out, sonny boy. Get lots of rest, drink lots of fluids. Purge you body, bolster you immune system, take over-the-counter drugs. Well, I knew to do all that already, so going to the doctor seems kind of pointness, after the fact. I can't just stop my day to day activities for the sake of getting "rest". I have responsibilities, after all. So, unless I'm completely debilitated, what I end up with is long stretches of low grade misery as I try to carry on with my normal routine. I'm tired of being subjected to the whims of non-sentient (supposedly) microcosmic forces that flare up whenever my immune system is the slightest bit stressed. I can only seek to focus on the positive right now. After all, had I lived even a hundred years ago, I would have probably died in early childhood. Now, I can at least look forward to old age, when the health problems will be much, much worse than merely annoying. That's a happy thought....

Notes from the Nerdscape

Amazingly, we actually managed to see a couple of geekish-type movies the weekend they hit theaters in the past couple weeks. The Wolverine: Origins movie was awesome! The new Star Trek reboot was Freakin' Awesome! I was stunned by how well the material was handled, despite some "science issues" in both movies. Suspension of disbelief comes fairly easy for me (it's a movie, get over it!), but there are times when something happens that is illogical enough to be jarring. Fortunately, these problems were kept to a minimum and the quality of everything else was enough for me to be forgiving. Especially since the average movie-goer probably wouldn't have noticed them at all. For instance, in the Wolverine movie, Deadpool had sword blades extend from his wrists. These blades were long enough that, had they been one solid piece stored in his arms, he would not have been able to bend his elbows at all. A Star Trek example was the fact that they beamed Kirk and Capt. Pike off the enemy ship while the shields were (seemingly) still up. It is a well-known fact that this is not possible according to Star Trek physics. But, as I said, these are minor nit-picks. The well-written characters, snappy dialogue, amazing FX and other goodness more than makes up for them. We will be buying these movies on DVD when they come out, for sure. Also, it looks like both will be spawning sequels. Let us hope that the quality remains at a consistent level or perhaps even improves in subsequent productions.

Oh, one final note. It continues to irk me that while the super hero and science fiction genres both continue to shine on the big screen, we have yet to see a significant number of fantasy movies that reach the same pinnacle of quality. There is a plethora of amazing fantasy literature out there just ripe for the picking, if the studio execs would just get their collective heads out of their butts long enough to realize it. The few series that have managed to get the blockbuster treatment have been wildly successful (Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and the Narnia series), but where is my big budget Dragonlance movie?! Or maybe a series based in the Forgotten Realms? I am encouraged by HBO's attempt to deliver a Game of Thrones series, but we are talking the tip of the iceberg here. Come on Hollywood, get over the "fantasy is for kiddie movies and b-movies" bullcrap and give us what we want, dammit!

Time is the Enemy

Rather, not having enough time is the enemy of keeping up with a blog. Curse this linear timestream to which we are all captive. I must endeavor to slip my temporal bonds and resume the documentation of events that shape my reality. That will show Time who's boss, dang it!

Gulf Wars Summary

Well, it's a bit late, but here it is. A synopsis of a summary of some of the highlights from my Gulf Wars 2009 experience. Enjoy.

We got there Sunday and managed to set up our tent right before the rain started. It didn't stop until Monday night. We spent all day Monday walking around in the wet, shopping with Her Majesty and one of her Ladies. I bought a new Cut and Thrust sword and a new buckler to go with it.

The weather turned really nice on Tuesday and we fought all day. Came damn close to winning the 6-man melee tourney. Won 3 out of 4 fights, just missing out on the finals.

Wednesday I got shot at with arrows in a Combat Archery Rapier battle. Then fought for the Queen in a tourney. Didn't win, though, sadly. That night we helped with the Meridian Party, which had a Goth theme this year. Hilarity ensued. I got a skull cane to go with my black outfit and it got dubbed "The Pimp Stick of Doom!". Respect the Stick!! I also facilitated the negotiations to hook up one of the North Shield Kingdom's better-looking Rapier people with one of Her Majesties Ladies. When he realized what was going on, he looked at me and said "You... are the Devil!". Well, duh!

Thursday we had our big Field Battle. We got stomped in the first two engagements due to lack of numbers on our side. We got some reinforcements for the friendship battle afterwards and Meridies went apesh*t crazy on the left flank. Tore it up reeeeeeal good. We won that one. Go figure.

Friday I was sick in the morning, but recovered in time to fight in another big battle. That one was a 45 minute long "resurrection" battle in the Ravine. We were heavily outnumbered (again), but Meridies charged bravely into the right flank over and over again and actually took it down a couple times. I was proud of our people even though we lost. Later that night we went shopping again and I got a leather cavalier hat and a new period long coat. Dashing, simply dashing!

Saturday we ran a charity tourney for the Sarah Cannon (Minnie Pearl) Cancer Foundation. Raised over $300 dollars. Very happy about that. Later we fought in the Fort battles. I got nailed in the ribs during the very first engagement hard enough to just about put me on the ground. Pretty sure I cracked a rib, but I fought the rest of the day anyway. C'est la guerre...

Sunday was relatively uneventful as we packed up and went home.

Overall, we worked our butts off, got the crap beat out of us and wound up bruised, sore, sunburnt and exhausted. It was awesome!