State of the Chap
- It's amazing to think that around this time last year I was coping with immense pain, mostly out of stubbornness and hoping the snail's-pace route I was taking through medical system would provide succour come March.
- As of today, the 17th of January, it'll be exactly one year since I finally took action and checked myself into the hospital to deal with my VHL complications; it wasn't until 10 days following I had my dual surgeries on the 27th/28th, and a week following that I was finally discharged from the hospital.
- After a few months of somewhat speedy recovery, I've been in good health since. I'd been exercising during the warmer months, though not so much during the fall/winter. I've gained weight, but since I've always been a rail-thin guy, I'm happy to have the extra poundage. My hope is now I have mass to convert to muscle come when I get off my duff and begin exercising again.
Anyway, enough about me specifically, here's what I've been up to since the beginning of the new year. It's been busy, and yet paradoxically, I took time to write this post:
When I have time to, I've been consuming A Red & Pleasant Land, and hopefully after that the rest of LotFP stuff I received the first week of the new year, such as the revised Death Frost Doom and No Salvation For Witches. Good Impressions forthcoming. I'm also expecting a few other print items to arrive at my door in partial preparation for GottaCon.
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| Second-hand Loot |
I organized a bunch of my old junk, and sold some to get more, smaller junk. I also sold my collection of Arkham Horror stuff to a friend. As much as I enjoy that game, I have neither the time or space for it anymore. I was glad to see it go to a good home.
Amongst the items I acquired was an interesting minigame by TSR called SAGA - Age of Heroes. I like the pseudo-Viking Age theme of it and would like to give it a try but the cardboard chits are unpunched, and doing so might lessen it's collectable value. I also picked up the eighth book of the ridiculous Grimtooth's Traps series, and a couple of modules, one of which was a complete and better condition of Quest for the Silver Sword. Score.
My best friends were to come over this weekend from Vancouver and we were looking to nerd it up hard, but unfortunately I've been unable to get the time off of work because of a busy promotion and limited staff. Hopefully I'll get the chance to see them next month for my own birthday or GottaCon.
Speaking of GottaCon, I've been working on finalizing my schedule:
Note: you might have to manually select the dates above because I can't figure it out to display specifically those days.
Hopefully any future changes I make will be updated above. During the 2-6pm slot on Saturday and possibly Sunday, I might be running a couple Games-On-Demand sessions (I have yet to figure that all out; still trying to build a roster of games I'm comfortable running with little prep).
I'll be running a late night Dread Cthulhu game, and Star Wars: Edge of the Empire game on Sunday; the remainder I'm planning on attending as a player. +Larry Spiel and I are still in the process of writing our dual-table EotE game, but I think the good majority of it is done.
The folks behind the Fate of the Norns RPG were nice enough to send me some material and offer to assist teaching the game via Skype; but unfortunately I've been unable to secure a slot to run the game, let alone confidently grasp the mechanics of FotN. I honestly thought the Runic system was going to be easier to initially grok and less crunchy than it actually is. My enthusiasm for running a new game I'd never learned met unreasonable expectations. :(
During most of the event I plan to dress up as my MC LARP character Kampi, both for larks and for some sweet in-game XP. On Sunday, if I have time to finish it, I might also cosplay a Scoundrel-type character from Star Wars.
And speaking of Star Wars, I've finally introduced my long-time Friday gaming group to EotE via the Beginner Game; they're having tons of fun with it. I'm hoping to bring them through the Long Arm of the Hutt arc before diving into the full game, rolling up characters, etc.
Additionally, I've been in contact with a FLGS on running their Rebellion Day material for Age of Rebellion. They received the game kits last summer but couldn't find the time/people to run the promo adventure. So tentatively I'm going to be running the game on the 31st of Jan. Better late than never!
A local leather shop and supplier has gone out of business, so the Missus and I grabbed a roll veg tanned leather to fashion into another helmet and possibly a sheath for my new Calimacil Scramasax before they closed their doors. We got almost 12 feet square of leather, so we'll have plenty for future projects.
The design we're following/aiming for is going to be similar to the Viking Spectacle-style helm constructed [here], but out of leather instead of steel. I'll try to keep posted on our progress. For a sheath, I'm thinking of something similar to this design [here], though I'm sure it won't look as stellar given my crafting skill, but I'm lucky to be working with my talented partner!
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| A similar design we're aiming for. |
On Sunday the 25th of this month there is a free Live Action Apocalypse Role Playing Paintball (LAARPP) game that I'm considering attending. If so it should be fun, some friends and I are going as a beach-bum-themed raider band: the Zegema Beach Raiders. (Mostly a inside joke; bonus points if you get the reference.)
Again on the topic of Star Wars, amongst all the things I've been organizing has been my still-too-large collection of SW memorabilia. Though I just sold off some of it, and I'm planning to sell more, I think a share of the items don't really have any resell value. So I was thinking that next month during the weekend before GottaCon is my birthday, and I might use all these things as decorations and prizes in a Star Wars-themed birthday party. I just need to find a venue as our place is way too small to entertain large groups.
Incidentally, they could also make excellent table prizes for Rebellion Day/GottaCon games!
Finally, on the topic of exercising again, I was hoping to get some weapon training for MC during the off season with another group in town since Vanguard is also closed for the season, but alas my work and personal schedule have been preventing so. But the Missus and I have been doing something to together just as awesome: Learning to Swing Dance! We just had our first lesson last Thursday, and practiced what we learnt the following eve at the drop-in dance, both by Red Hot Swing.
Learning to dance has definitely made me conscious of just how uncoordinated I can be. Hopefully with practice and diligence I'll become at least a passable swing dancer. :)
