Oh Happy Day!

Oh Happy Day, Oh Happy Day!

Lex, our youngest (for those not in-the-know, Lex will be 12 months in July), is finally wanting more solid foods rather than the strained-crud they serve as baby foods. No more formula, now he gets real milk!

Today we fed him Mac n' Cheese (from a box) and tuna salad... and he loved it! Tonight we had some orzo as a side, and he loved that.

This is great. Formula runs around $25 a week for Lex, and food for the week probably runs around another $10 a week (or more). Saving approximately $140 a month on our food budget is fantastic, and the fact that Lex is loving the food we're making is beyond fantastic; we shouldn't need to adjust our menus too much as he gets older.

Heck, at this point he's less picky than I am since he likes seafood!

The best thing is watching him take a bite of whatever we're feeding him, and then watch him smile, start nodding his head, and say "Good!"

Now we just need to get through all this stuff with his blocked tear duct (first appointment with Children's Hospital is Thursday) and we'll be set!

End of Demented Rambling.

I've Fallen Behind

I've fallen pretty far behind on this blog!

Wednesday was my last day on Jury Duty. I was released after that due to a slow week. Took some time on Thursday to just enjoy the family. Friday we dropped the kids off with the other house for the weekend. That night Lisa and I watched a couple of movies. The first is called Cthulhu, and I was expecting to really like it. The trailer made it seem that it was based on The Shadow Over Innsmouth, my favorite of Lovecraft's stories.

It might have been, but I'll never know. A short way in I realized that the story was actually "Successful gay man returns home and must deal with religious father who scorns his sexual orientation." I have nothing against LGBT film or literature, but I don't appreciate disguising it within something else.

The next film was called Asylum and it was HORRIBLE. It was full of horror-flick stereotypes and had a villain who was a poor rip-off of Freddy. I mean, the stereotypes were horrible too: Tough, defensive latino girl? Abused by her boyfriend. Pretty blonde chick who acts all slutty and sex-crazed? Sexually abused by her father. Annoying jock obsessed with his looks and physique? Formerly obese loser from an obese family forced to overeat by his mother. The story was just plain uninteresting, though they got some decent gore into the film. Just goes to show - movie covers can make a film look intersting, but sometimes they're just wrapping paper over crap.

Saturday I went down to Origins to meet up with the old Athens Wargamers crowd. Well, actually the big bar on the 2nd floor of the Hyatt is more accurate, since I didn't shell out the money for a convention pass. Got to catch up with my friend Chris who now lives in Bavaria while serving as a combat cameraman in the Army. My friend Ryan was there, who I haven't seen since he moved to the Toledo area. Bruce, another old friend who lived in Athens (and still does, plus he works for the University now), caught me up on the changes to campus (Holy Shit! Athens has a Chipotle now!). Larry was there and bought the first (and only) round of beer. Kelly was there, and I probably haven't seen him 3 or 4 years. A couple other Wargamers were around, but they were doing Con stuff, and I didn't get to see them. Met a few of the next generation of Wargamers too. Good fun. Paid too much for a "Philly" cheesesteak, even if it was pretty good.

Today we picked up the kids and did some grocery shopping. I tried out a new (to me) recipe from Alton Brown for a pork tenderloin marinated in lime juice, lime zest, garlic powder, honey and a bit of adobe sauce. Then cooked the sucker over the grill until the thermometer read 140 degrees.

I took two bites and tossed it in the sink. Very disappointed. I usually really like AB's recipes, but this turned out very disappointing. The pork had a strong lime taste around the edges, but nothing on the inside. I couldn't taste ANY of the other flavors in the marinade, which was surprising because after I made the marinade I tried a little and thought it was quite good. I was really looking forward to this meal, and it just sucked. Well, not the whole meal. Lisa makes great mashed potatoes, and the steamed peas were pretty good too. I ended up eating a rice cake with the peas and potatoes, and now I have a large portion of a tenderloin that I don't want to save. The kids said they liked it, but I don't really trust them when it comes to food. They ate it all - which is good enough, I suppose - but they'll often say something is good even if they hate it. Lisa didn't seem to care for it, said the lime was too strong. I have to agree.

I'm reading a bit more of Laurell K. Hamilton's The Laughing Corpse and I STILL can't tell if I like her series or not. I'm not sure why it isn't clicking (or failing to click) with me. The character... well, she seems like she has a lot of potential, and she has several intersting qualities... but she's overshadowed by things like the descent into trashy romance novel territory whenever she's around the master vampire of the city (I know, they're supposed to be "erotic thrillers" but still...), the obsession with proving that Hamilton is familiar with guns, and a slow pacing filled with unnecessary entries (we get that Saint Louis is hot... do you need to have her constantly moan about how uncomfortable she is wearing long sleeves to hide her gun?) that take away from some of the good parts. Hamilton also fails to explain a lot of things... a prime example is the fact that Anita Blake is on retainer with the St. Louis police department to help explain supernatural goings-ons... and apparently she can do forensics analysis too! Please... they give a plausible explanation as to why she would be considered a supernatural expert (she has a degree in the field), but not where her keen detective skills come from.

Whatever. We'll see where it goes.

That's it for now. It's late, and I don't feel like rambling any more.

End of Demented Rambling.

All the Small Things

Mental note:

When you know the night before that you're running low on gas, STOP AT THE FUEL PUMP!!!

On the other hand, if I hadn't stopped to pump gas this morning, I wouldn't have realized that I had no cash on me for parking.

So gas & the bank ended up making me almost late to Jury Duty this morning. I couldn't get into the county parking garage and had to settle for City Center.

On the plus side, a quick glance at the board showed 4 of 7 judges already in court, though one (Schneider, the case I was almost seated on) is in deliberations.

Yesterday 2nd weekers were released at lunch. With any luck today will be similar.

End of Demented Rambling.

The Cunning Mark

Holy crap.

I've gotten 11 pages written in an hour and a half (approximately).

I think I've got a winner here. Lucas Moon is getting some more attention from me.

End of Demented Rambling.

On a lighter note...

Today my goal is to get a few more pages written for Temple of Baltatharon. On top of that I want to get to work on writing The Cunning Mark (first Lucas Moon short story!) even though I haven't finished prewriting it yet. I want to start prewriting and/or writing on Five Views of Survival, an old idea I had originally intended as a short film but that I think might translate better as a story. I need to bring a Lovecraft anthology with The Thing on the Doorstep with me tomorrow so I can decide if I want to work on a new version of that book written from a different character's point of view (yes, yes, I know... I wanted to stay away from the Cthulhu Mythos, but I think I might enjoy the work).

I also want to get started on a piece to submit to White Wolf, as part of their Storyteller Adventure System line. I don't know if they'll want yet another Hunter: The Vigil story (they have more of those posted than anything else), but I like my idea and after reading some of the aweful ones they published... well, I don't think mine can be any worse!

I recently got in contact from an old friend from college, Chris Barnhardt, whom I haven't seen since he joined the military. He's in town this week and mentioned that he'd gotten some stuff of his published by Chaosium, the company who makes the Call of Cthulhu RPG. I need to find what their writing submission guidelines are... not only do they publish RPG stuff, but they also publish new Mythos short story anthologies. They could be a good resource for me.

It's a lot on my plate, but if I stretch it out through the remainder of the week I should be able to handle it. Assuming Jury Duty affords me the time.

I also got a call last night from Safelite (I think it was Safelite... the voicemail was a little garbled) regarding a sales position I applied for a lifetime ago. By the time I heard the voicemail it was too late to return the call, but I'm going to buzz them during the lunch hour and see how they feel about me coming in next week to talk to them.

Oh, and at some point I need to crank out Kill Me Please part three.

Ok. Enough blogging! Work!

End of Demented Rambling.

Save Ohio Libraries

Ok. Anyone who reads this has likely already recieved an e-mail from me regarding this issue, but it's important so I'm going to go over it again here.

Now I understand that the Governor has a tough job. A $3.2 billion hole in a budget is a big one to fill. You have to make tough choices, you have to make people angry, something has to suffer.

But this plan is idioitic. The proposed total reduction between the losses from our reduced economy and the cuts proposed by Strickland come to a 50% revenue loss for libraries state wide. Many libraries rely on state funding to keep their doors open.

So what happens when the libraries lose that money? Well you stop getting as much new material, meaning that the libraries become outdated and less-useful as a research tool. Operations are scaled back, meaning reduced staff, shorter operating hours. BRANCHES CLOSE, meaning MORE jobless competing in what is already a tough job market. And worse, valuable programs that help raise the literacy of children and adults go away.

Unacceptable.

Libraries are more than just a place to do research now. For those who haven't been able to afford a computer, they are a needed place to produce reports and papers. For those who might have a computer but either can't get or can't afford internet access, the libraries are their only gateways online.

We have an unemployment problem here in Ohio. We've lost something like 280,000 manufacturing jobs. The decline of the Auto Industry is hitting us hard. Changes in health care could hit like a ton of bricks since Insurance is one of the largest industries in Columbus.

Part of the answer is finding the jobs that are available, retraining where necessary, and keeping up to date on innovations in your field. Library internet access can help the unemployed gain access to job search boards or access to e-mail, which is almost a necessity for communicating with staffing companies. They provide research tools so that people can retrain themselves at low cost by doing research into new fields of employment. They provide access to industry journals and books that newly unemployed workers might not want to risk spending money on, but that will keep them at the top of their game while seeking new employment.

Take away libraries and it becomes much, much harder for the poor to find work. If they don't find work then the State is stuck with rising unemployment expenses and a loss of taxpayer revenue. This isn't a stop-gap. It's breaking a limb to take your mind off of pain somewhere else in your body. It's stupidity.

My children LOVE going to the library. Our son, Caleb, can read better than Cassandra was able to at his age, and he loves reading. The library gives him new material to read so he's not just memorizing the same book over and over, without adding to our strained budget. When we bring him home a stack of books, he doesn't care what's in them, he can't wait to read them to us.

Cassandra loves to get books. Right now she's reading a High School Musical book that we're using to continue her practice with reading comprehension during the summer. She bought the book at the last book fair West Franklin held. At the same time she is reading Coraline (recommended by James Patterson's youth reading program) for fun. She just got another pile of books Monday, though we're making her wait until she's finished reading one of the other books before she devours the new ones. Last night I noticed Cassandra using the kitchen timer, and I realized she was setting it for 20 minutes... Every 20 minutes of reading lets her fill in a bubble on the reading chart she got from the library for their summer reading program.

Lex can't read. He loves books though. Apparently they taste good... I wish I were kidding. And he loves to turn the pages. The library has benefitted him though. It was through the library that we were able to get some of the "Baby Einstein" videos to show him. They've exposed him to classical music, fun sights, and there have been many times when all it took to stop his cries (he hates being placed in the play pen) was showing him the video cassette, and then starting up one of those 30-minute videos. Instant quiet, focused baby.

Through the library Lisa was able to indulge her forensics and serial killer interests (I don't mean she wants to BE a serial killer, rather she enjoys reading about them). She has gotten to find True Crime novels to satisfy the void left after mysteries became too easy for her. She recently checked out an e-book of James Patterson's and fell in love with a favorite author again. She was upset when she had to wait for another e-book to become available, one that is letting her read a variety of authors.

Part of my writing goes into trying to get roleplaying adventures published. As I've said before, the idea of combining one of my oldest hobbies and my career thrills me. But to do that I need books, books that aren't exactly cheap. I've kept my library as full as possible. Amazon gift cards from rewards points can stretch pretty well for this, but I have to pick and choose. Often I don't know if I really want a book, and I don't order it because I'm afraid it will be a waste. The library carries some roleplaying books. Not all, but they have everything for the 4e D&D product line. It was thanks to those books that I knew ordering Monster Manual 2 or Adventurer's Vault would be money well-spent. It was also thanks to the library that I realized that while Dungeon Delve is a fund read, I wouldn't really get any use out of it. On top of that I've gotten to read The Warrior by Jim Butcher, and Turn Coat, plus Butcher's Codex Alera series all thanks to the library. I'm trying to decide if I like Laurel K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series right now, something I wouldn't take the risk on if I had to buy the books.

This is what the library means to my family. You want to take that away from us Strickland? You think this protects and serves the people of Ohio.

I think you're making a mistake. I think you're hurting Ohio, and my family. And I think if this budget goes through like this I'll stop being one of your supporters, and I've been supporting you since 2000.

You really want that?

Want to tell the Governor and your legislator how you feel? Check out http://www.columbuslibrary.org/save_our_library for ways you can speak out.

End of Demented Rambling.

Week Two Begins!

So my second week of Jury Duty begins today. As usual, I'm already up in the 5th floor Jury Assembly Room, waiting for 9:00 AM to roll around. I have no idea if they'll even call me this week. At this point my odds are slightly lower than they were last week, depending on how many things go to trial. Whatever, I've actually somewhat enjoyed my time here. It's been great creatively, and while I miss the family I don't mind the break in scenery (if Lisa reads this her jaw is probably on the floor and she's likely thinking "then why don't we go somewhere and get out of the house!").

The weekend was, overall, a good one. It started on Friday for me since I didn't need to report to the court house. Lisa's mother and grandmother (the Marys) came to stay the night Friday, so the kids were really excited. Lisa's mother (we'll call her "young Mary") bought the kids a small swimming pool, and they loved it. It looks like a whale and can spray them as they're in it if the water is hooked up. Lex loved it too, walking around like he owned the thing, trying to swim, etc. It was a good visit. They left at about 5:00 PM Sunday, and we were kind of at a loss for what to do next. We had planned ribs for dinner, but both Lisa and myself had forgotten to get them out of the freezer, so there wasn't an opportunity to thaw them and let the rub get in. Slight change of plans, and dinner was leftovers, which were still good since Lisa had made a double batch of her awesome Kicking Cajun Alfredo (courtesy of Guy Fieri) Friday night, plus some homemade garlic bread that was just as good cold as it was warm (despite what Cassandra thought).

Sunday was Father's Day, and it was a little bittersweet. I met my parents at their house and went to see my grandfather. After a couple of strokes right after each other at the end of February/beginning of March his mind has finally gone. Some days are good, some... well, some aren't. I hadn't been over to see him since getting the news. I've gone through one family member not knowing who I am, I don't long to experience it again. But this might have been the last Father's Day, and I know it was important to Dad even if he didn't say so (important to me too). My Aunt Sally and Uncle John were there, so we got to see them. Grandpa wasn't really with things however. They've upped his dosage on one medication and he fell asleep. I suppose that's ok... it avoided a potentially difficult situation. It was good to see him.

By the time I got home I was feeling ill. I don't know if it was from the visit, the heat, a drop in my blood sugar, or what. All I know is I was naseus and not feeling good in general. Lisa wasn't feeling well either. The kids made me Father's Day cards while I was gone, so that was a welcome treat (I had prepared my self for the Marys' visit to overshadow Father's Day). Lisa had helped Lex make me a card that had his very first hand prints on it, so that was great (not to take away from Cassandra & Caleb's cards... I just wasn't expecting one from Lex). Apparently Lisa had to stop him from trying to stick paint-covered hands in his mouth! That boy wants to eat everything in sight! What do they say about Cancers, they're ruled by their stomachs? Lex proves that one!

We were supposed to go to a Summer Solstice ceremony my friend Joe's Druid Grove was putting on. It started at 3 and by 2 I was still feeling ill. I looked at the temperature and realized it was supposed to reach 85 with a 52% humidity, and we decided that it just wasn't a good idea to go. Even if I handled the heat ok, Lex probably wouldn't, and the ceremony would take place right during his feeding time when he'd be guaranteed to be cranky. I was disappointed, but I think it was the right decision. Of course our dinner plans had been the potluck after the ceremony so we kind of messed up with that... but fortunately Pizza Hut is very forgiving. Lisa was thrilled when I suggested we order mediums instead of our usual larges... hey, every little bit to help lose weight, right?

I got a present for Father's Day. Sims 3, something I'd been looking forward to but Lisa was iffy about it. I had reservations about whether it would even run on the laptop (the processer isn't technically up to specs), but my fears were unfounded. The only issue I had was that my video driver was VERY out of date (it was an '05 driver!) so I had some .dll issues that forced me to restart the laptop a couple of times. Fortunately Intel had an updated '07 driver on their website that fixed the issues, and the game runs quite nicely now. I'll review it sometime after I've played some more, but in short I like it better than Sims 2 (which is Lisa's baby). It fixes a lot of the things that made me get bored with the previous versions... plus my first Sim is an Evil Insane Bookworm who is trying to become a professional author and now has 3 books to his name while he works part time at a bookstore!

(No, I didn't pattern him after myself... I just wanted to try the traits out and I had enjoyed writing books in Sims 2 instead of getting a career.)

I also got in touch with an old buddy from college through Facebook. I haven't seen him in years; he joined the Army as a Combat Documentation and Production Specialist, and he lives in Bavaria now (he says it makes Athens, OH look like LA). He's here for the week to attend Origins, so I think I'll try to find a time to go to dinner with him or have him over or something, depending on what his schedule will allow.

End of Demented Rambling.

Another Day at the Court House

Well, here I am, ready for another day in the jury pool.

Yesterday I was suffering from... well, I don't know exactly. Lisa thinks I was dehydrated, which I suppose is possible. All I know is that I had one of the worst migraines I'd ever had and nothing was relieving the pain. Then after I had started eating I kept feeling like it was all going to come back up again.

When I got home I retreated to the bedroom and collapsed hidden under the pillows and blankets to shut the light out. Lisa forced some liquids into me. By the time she had to leave for Krogers to get a few last minute things for dinner I was... well, "functional" doesn't quite cover it because I have some gaps in my memory of Lisa telling me things. But I was at least able to watch the kids while sucking more fluids down. By the time dinner rolled around I was back to normal.

Hopefully I won't go through the same thing again today. Lisa dropped me off today (might as well save the $5 on parking, y'know?) and I didn't bring my lunch because I want to try out a little pub called The Jury Room just around the block from the courthouse... I don't know why, but it's sparked my interest (and I don't even know what they serve).

End of Demented Rambling.

Must. Remember. Asprin!

I got started working, and I've managed to crank out 5 pages now...

But could someone please make the tiny, tiny jackhammers inside my head stop?

Every time I try to concentrate on my manuscript it just gets worse. Maybe my brain doesn't like the Courier font?

Note to self: get some travil asprin and put them in briefcase.

End of Demented Rambling.

Ugh... Mornings

I'm finding it hard to get motivated this morning.

I'm tired, grumpy, dopey... hell, let's throw all of the seven dwarves in for a nice bout of morning schizophrenia.

I have the flash drive plugged into the USB port, a mediocre cup of complimentary coffee beside me, everything's all set up, and I've done my ritual check of my e-mail.

And yet I just can't bring myself to double-click on my files and get going.

I did really well yesterday, and I want to do as well again today. Children of Llothora finished up around 40 pages and 9,000 words... right now Caverns of Baltatharon is sitting at 15 pages, and approximately 3,200 words. There's plenty more to do for it. I'm almost finished with the second part of it, and have two major sections and one concluding section to go. The prewriting is mostly done (even if section 4's prewriting is more meant for me to develop as I go along), I know where I'm going next...

You know what's next.

I even started outlining my first Lucas Moon short story yesterday, and I can't bring myself to work on that.

I don't know. Maybe I want to goof off a little. Maybe Turn Coat is calling to me a little too loudly as it rests in my briefcase. Maybe I just didn't want to say goodbye to Lisa and the kids, or maybe I just regret that Lex didn't wanted to spend time with me and I had to give him up so I could leave for here.

They just went around and collected $1.00 from all the jurors willing to give. They're pooling the money and plan on giving it to the family of the jury manager who passed away yesterday. I gave. It's a small gesture, but it's something, and I would have felt like a lousy person for not having done it (y'know, unless I didn't actually have cash on me).

Ok! Enough! I'm signing off here, and dammit all, I'm going to open a file and get some work done!

End of Demented Rambling.

Always Remember Your Alum Wrenches!

I just got back from lunch to have my briefcase/laptop bag searched by security.

I was puzzled. First they had me take my laptop out... and then open it to prove there was nothing in there (like what, some kind of secret compartment?). Then they run the bag through again. And have a third security officer come over to look at the x-ray.

(mind you, this bag has been through the scanner 4 times already with no incident.)

The third officer comes over and informs the first two that the object they suspect is the handle of hand gun is, in fact, and ALUM WRENCH SET.

Hell, I'd forgotten that I'd even HAD that in there.

What really gets me is when they first asked me to open my bag, I informed them that there were three compartments to the bag. The laptop just happened to be the first compartment I'd openend. Then I opened a second compartment to take out the can of pop I'd placed there to make it easier to carry.

They never asked for the third compartment to be openend, which would have revealed... duh duh duhhh! The alum wrench set.

Don't get me wrong. I'm glad they're taking pains to prevent weapons from entering the building. I am. But still... if you're going to ask me to open the bag, HAVE ME OPEN THE WHOLE BAG. It would have actually made things go FASTER.

On a side note, I looked at the board in the jury managers' office, and it doesn't like any judges have closed down for the day, so there's still a chance I'll get called today. Guess we'll find out!

End of Demented Rambling.

Day Two of Jury Duty

And now we begin day two. I'm upstairs on the 5th floor today, plugged in at a private workstation where I can keep power going to the laptop until I'm called to serve. I was called at the end of the day yesterday, but the case was resolved before they needed to send potential jurors to the courtroom, so I was done right around 2:00 PM yesterday.

Today's plan is as follows. As soon as I finish this post I'm pulling up the story I'm working on and typing until I hit a road block. I'll either take a break at that point (I brought the new Dresden Files book, Turn Coat, with me to read) or I'll start prewriting for a couple other ideas I had last night... including a Lucas Moon short story (no, not Kill Me Please). My goal is to make certain I'm - for the most part - writing until either lunch rolls around or I get summoned.

Ok, enough talk! On to the writing!

End of Demented Rambling.

Condemned 2: Bloodshot Review (Xbox 360 version)

I've just completed Condemned 2: Bloodshot for the Xbox 360. The original Condemned was the first game I purchased when I got my 360, and I really enjoyed it. It seemed a little short, but all games that we love seem too short. The ending for the original Condemned left me confused, so when I heard that a sequal was planned I was excited for it. Bloodshot didn't disappoint.

You take the role of the same character from Condemned, but rather than being an SCU agent right off the bat you're drunk. Drunk and halucinating. The tutorial stage has you chasing after a halucintion of Ethan Van Horn, the mysterious old man from the first game who helped you out. You get some quick training in combat basics and get plenty of opportunity to explore the environment. After this stage you team back up with SCU, who are looking for the real Van Horn. When the investigation reveals that Van Horn's nephew, the serial killer called SKX from the first game is possibly still around, you start hunting him. This hunt leads you into a deeper conspiracy that goes through the ranks of SCU, the city government, and even into the ranks of national leaders.

Combat is simple on the most basic levels. The right and left triggers allow you to throw a punch with the corresponding fist when you are unarmed. Picking up one of the plentiful weapons let you swing in the corresponding direction, and the right trigger fires any guns you might pick up while the left trigger steadies your aim. Also of use in combat is the ability to kick by pressing the right thumbstick button. Kicking doesn't do much damage, but it can push your opponent back for a moment, giving you the opportunity to land a punch. The left shoulder button lets you charge, and you can deliver an elbow to an opponent's face. The right shoulder button throws whatever object you're holding, and throwing a weapon at a foe's legs can trip them up, giving you yet another opportunity for an attack. Pressing both the trigger buttons at the same time lets you block and opponent's attacks. Time it just right, and you'll make the attacker stagger, giving you - you guessed it - another opportunity to start landing attacks of your own.

Added complexity to combat comes in the form of combos and environmental kills. Combos are a string of attacks that give you a multiplier to your damage, letting you finish a foe more quickly. They range from simple left, right, left to combos that require you to parry and then start hitting. Combos also earn you charged attacks which start a slow-motion sequence of attacks that devestate your opponents. At their highest level you end these attacks by snapping an opponent's neck. When an opponent is down on their knees you can finish them off by dragging them over to objects in the area and perform multiple different finsihing moves. These areas are clearly marked by white skulls visible only while you're dragging your stunned opponent, and the finishing moves are fun to execute.

All of these factors make combat fun, though fighting multiple oppoenents can require some work. Later levels require more use of firearms, something that I don't think game handles quite as well, but in a pinch you can always chuck that empty automatic rifle at your opponent, bum rush him, and then unleash a combo on him ending with an environmental kill or a charged attack. And then you can pick up his gun and keep on dishing out bullets.

The game has more going for it than just slaughtering enemies. There's some faux-forensics work to be done, requiring you to use your evidence kit to examine crime scenes and find clues. Your kit includes a GPS unit that doubles as a communications device, a UV light to help find blood spatters and trails, a spectrometer that can identify odd sonic vibrations in the air (and apparently traces of formaldahyde as well), and a digital camera. Once you've entered a crime scene you'll be directed by Rosa, you partner in the forensics lab, on what to look for first. You'll then get a series of choices to choose from, allowing you to identify evidence. For example, if Rosa wants you to try and identify a victim, you might start by identifying that he's male (getting the choice of either male or female), his age (chosen from things like adolescent, adult, elder), the clothes the victim is wearing, and any other features. After you've chosen all the evidence the game wants you submit it to Rosa, and the game informs you how well you did by rating you as poor, good, or perfect. Getting a bad rating doesn't stop the game from progressing, as Rosa normally finds your mistakes and helps you move along. The forensics work puts a nice touch to the game, harkening back to the original Condemned, and really helped me to feel like the main character was actually a trained SCU agent.

The storyline is about average. It verges into the scifi in what seems like a departure from the more realistic original game, though the storyline makes the more fantastic elements of the original Condemned make more sense. You interact with a number of other characters and a "response system" is implemented, requiring you to press the A button within a certain period of time to react to an event or statement. They could have left this part out, but at least it's something. Most of the story is told through cut scenes that take place between the different levels. When you beat the game make sure you wait through the credits, or you'll feel letdown by the last sequence. They've definitely left room for a sequel.

The downside of the game is that things can sometimes be hard to make out. For example, while being asked to identify a body by looking at the victims wallet, I couldn't actually make out the name on the ID because there was too much light reflecting off the wallet. The graphics are otherwise very good, but when you do run into this problem it can be quite frustrating. The game also has a few sequences where you are chased by something too tough for you to fight. For example, a killer bear. These sequences are frustrating, not in the least because if you do something wrong you're dead. No chance to escape again, just dead. Still, the game doesn't penalize you (at least that I could tell) for dying, so you have plenty of opportunities to get things right.

Overall, Condemned 2: Bloodshot for the Xbox 360 does a lot of things right. The hand to hand combat is some of the best I've played, and the forensics element of the game helps keep things from becoming a non-stop slugfest. The story is of average quality, and may seem a little "out there" compared to most of the original Condemned's story, but it did make the ending of the first game make sense and served to create a setup for a sequel that I can look forward to. Finally, a few areas where it can be hard to make out parts of evidence or sequences that are either "make-the-right-decision-or-die" detract from the game, but the game forgives your mistakes enough to keep on playing.

Ultimately the game made me want to keep playing it through to the end, and I had fun doing so. What more can you really ask from a game? 4 out of 5 stars ****.

End of Demented Rambling.

Oops

So today my mother let me know that she was unable to leave comments on my blog.

I went into settings and lo and behold... they weren't set to let just anyone leave comments, only members of blogspot.com (where this blog is hosted).

Oops.

I changed it to allow anyone, even anonymous users, to leave a comment... at least I think I did. Won't know unless you comment.

So step on up and leave me a comment to let me know that it worked!

End of Demented Rambling.

First Day of Jury Duty

Well my Jury Duty starts today. I am now officially in the Jury Pool. From the sounds of things they might be busy enough that I'll get assigned to a case quickly. There are 2 cases already open for 1st-week jurors, but they haven't called any names for seating yet.

It's the nature of the first day of something new for at least one snag to happen. I had Lisa drive me downtown to avoid a potential prolonged-search for the county parking garages, and then I forgot to grab my lunch as I got out of the car.

You know what? If this is the worst thing to happen today I'll call it a success.

I'm not sure how long my laptop will last me today. I don't see any outlets to plug into down here. There's a "quiet room" upstairs on the 5th floor, so I might explore up there at some point. Right now I'm seated at a table with a woman whose name I don't know seated across from me working on her laptop, and an unfinished puzzle next to me. Thrilling. I've got two books with me, my laptop... let's hope it's enough to last me through the day, assuming I'm not called.

A lot of people here are complaining. They don't want to be here, they don't want the inconvenience. Maybe it is a pain in the ass, but I appreciate that the Jury Commission is doing what it can to ease us through this, and it is an honor to serve the government in exchange for the right to vote. I've always said that if a requirement to be able to have any kind of voice in my government is that I must answer if called to serve, then I'll answer when called. Whether that is through a draft or for Jury Duty.

Here we go folks. Cross your fingers; maybe at the end of these two weeks I'll have some more proposals/stories ready to submit!

Of course, that requires me to be able to keep my laptop charged...

End of Demented Rambling.

Update

I haven't written anything in a couple of days. Not much has been going on.

We dropped the kids off with the other house for the weekend and learned that the biological father had been off of work all week because he'd been in the ICU for an irregular heartbeat. Kind of upset that we weren't notified, but not really surprised either.

So what wild and crazy things are Lisa and I up to with our free weekend?

Well, Lisa's doing laundry, I've vacuumed the living & dining rooms, refilled the gas can for the lawnmower, and generally been taking care of Lex. Lisa tried to get a little reading in, but Lex won't tolerate not being the center of our attention for too long. Right now Lisa's laying him down for his nap while trying to play the Sims 2 at the same time (he falls asleep on her and then we transfer him somewhere else).

I KNOW. Sounds like fun right? Eh. Everyone's gotta have a chore day. Today's ours.

I just found back an old Cthulhu plushie from downstairs. Lex started giggling when he saw it. Hurray! Get 'em started on the Lovecraft young!

Hmmm... Lovecraft for bedtime stories... nah, don't want to make the therapists' jobs too easy.

End of Demented Rambling.

The Children of Llothora has been submitted!

The title says it all. I just finished the cover letter for The Children of Llothora to be sent to Weird Tales, attached the file, and it's away!

It can take 6 - 8 weeks to get a response, so meanwhile I'll just be working on the next manuscript. I've got the outline up in my word processor now. Trying to bang out some details on it.

Le sigh. I hate prewriting. Three cheers for unavoidable evils!

End of Demented Rambling.

Kill Me Please Part Two

There is a certainty of imminent death brought on by having the barrel of a gun pressed to your temple. I'm on good speaking terms with death, and I don't believe in the cliche of your life flashing before your eyes. I do believe in the weakening of your bowels and also that you might have enough time to regret the decisions that have brought you to the point of death. Exhausted, injured, and utterly without options I pondered on the fact that the whole reason I was in this mess was because one man couldn't follow the rules.

If you try to look up "Lucas Moon" in the phone book, you won't find me there. Certainly there could be some other guy that shares a name with me, and maybe he's in the phone book, but none of my cell phones are listed. I don't keep a Yellowpages ad saying "Professional Hitman, specializes in the supernatural". You want an ad open for the public, I hear there's a guy in Chicago who might fit the bill for you. You want to contact me? It's not easy.

I don't object to taking on jobs. I'm not burdened by a conscious that regrets what I do for a living. Everyone has something that they excell at, and a lucky few are able to translate that natural talent into something that can provide them with money. For me, it's killing. I was born to be a killer, a predator walking among the lambs. It's instinct, it's pleasure, and if I didn't channel it the way I do I hate to think what kind of monster I'd be.

Because I'm good at killing, especially at killing the things that fall "beyond the norm", I'm able to command a high price for my services. I have a stable body of regular customers that manage to keep my schedule relatively full. Some of you may be horrified of that thought, but frankly violence is in our natures, just most of us can't bring ourselves to act on it. Even those institutions held as "good" or "pure" have need to remove someone from this earthly coil on occasion. One of my regular customers is the Church. Yes, the one in Rome. I doubt the Pope has ever seen a line item on the budget that describes paying a hit man, but the checks always cash.

I have strict rules regarding setting up a meeting with me. When you make a name for yourself in this business you run into two main dangers. First, you make enemies who will want to see you dead. Second, there's always some new up-and-comer looking to make a name for themselves by taking out the business's celebrities. With so many people gunning for you, it becomes natural to just assume that you are in someone's crosshairs at any given time. This isn't paranoia, it's just the dangers of the profession, like torrid sex affairs are a danger for politicians and TV elevangolists. My rules are in place to minimize the risks to both myself and my potential clients. All of my regulars understand and accept my rules.

My first rule is simple: You never schedule an appointment with me. I don't answer my phone, I don't have an answering service that keeps a copy of my calander. You want to reach me, you contact a phone number that always go voice mail. You leave details about yourself, and I contact you with a when and a where. This offers me the chance to research any new clients that have been referred to me by my regulars. Lowers the chance of an ambush or being hired for a job that is really a trap. I maintain multiple cell phones, each kept in a safety deposit box at a different bank. When the voice mail gets a message it sends a text message to the phone I keep at my house. I check it once a day, leaving it on only for as long as I need to in order to retrieve missed call messages, and then I visit the phones in question with fresh batteries and listen to the voice mails.

My second rule is also simple: If you're not one of my regular clients, you go through a test. This allows me to see if you can follow simple directions. The test also proves that you have the means to pay my fees, by checking to see if you can handle a down payment. To that end, new clients that have passed my screenings get told to drop a briefcase full of cash at a location and walk away. That simple. If they can handle doing that, and can afford the amount I set, which is a minimum of twenty thousand, then I contact them a second time with the location where we will meet, usually thirty minutes before I want to meet. Failure to follow my rules gets you fleeing in terror and a loss of a briefcase full of cash, with no meeting to show for it. Call it a penalty fee.

Regular customers don't go through this. They've already proven they can follow the rules. They get their own private cell phone number to contact when they want to hire me, and typically can get a meeting arranged almost as soon as I've received their message. That's one of the benefits of being a reliable customer, excellent customer service, and a hit man who likes doing business with you.

My new potential client had been refered to me by Marcus Gioni, who isn't the head of the crime families in the city, but he's the lieutenant who will inherit them. The referal had turned out to be an accountant who double as a mouse of a man. I had decided to set him up for the payment test for two reasons. The first was because I didn't want to anger a regular customer who had sent several good jobs my way. The second was because I couldn't fathom what this guy could want with a hit man whose reputation was centered around taking out supernatural creatures.

I arranged for him to drop the money at a construction yard at one in the morning. No lights, no witnesses, and plenty of high places for me to watch how well the mouse followed my rules. I had arrived early and taken a perch high enough to observe his action without risking his noticing me. The moon was half way to being full and hidden behind a patch of clouds.

The mouse, his real name was Arthur Cranshaw, arrived promptly on time and took the briefcase over to the barrel I had indicated as the drop point. I watched as he looked around the barrel, inside it, and then scanned the surrounding area. I waited for him to put the case inside the barrel and leave, just like I'd told him to. And waited. And then still waited. Arthur Cranshaw seemed to have failed to understand what "put the money in the barrel and leave" meant. Instead he was clutching the briefcase to his chest and looking around like he expected me to magically appear.

After half an hour I was annoyed. Forty-five minutes of waiting made me angry. After an hour the moon had come out and I was livid. I'd had time to study Arthur Cranshaw, and my impression of him hadn't changed. He had a small nose, a hairline that had fled long ago, and wire-framed glasses. His glasses were comically large, and I couldn't help but compare him to the Disney mouse. He was slightly overweight, the danger of a desk job, and he didn't look comfortable in his suit, possibly because it must have been purchased when his waistline was smaller. But the most important thing about him was that he was still standing there and not following my rules.

It was around 2:30 in the morning when Mr. Arthur Cranshaw finally did something that set me off. Apparently the fact that he had been standing around for over an hour waiting me to make an appearance I had no intention on making wasn't good enough for him. He must not have felt like a complete fool, because without warning he starte to call out, "Mr. Wolfman! Mr. Wolfman, are you there?"

Let's get this straight. I didn't come up with the name. I hate people calling me it. At one point a man named Gus who works at my favorite pizza parlor decided to use it as a joke. Unfortunately a sleezebag that works for Gioni overheard him, and the name spread like wildfire. I've made a concentrated effort on letting everyone I can know that referring to me as "the Wolfman" was a good way to end up holding your intesitines in your hands.

"Mr. Wolfman, I have the money like you asked."

That was it. I couldn't take it anymore.

I leaped down from my perch and stormed toward Cranshaw, determined to show the mouse what happens when it gets the big bad wolf angry. The problem with playing the part of the big bad wolf is that you have to be angry, and when you're angry you make mistakes.

Like breaking your own rules.

I didn't bother with stealth. I didn't bother with trying to make myself look scary, because you can never do as good a job as what you naturally do when you're furious beyond all belief.

Cranshaw wasn't a heavy man. Even with during the daytime of the new moon I could have picked the guy up with little effort on my part. With the moon waxing half full and feeding my strength I could have launched him past the roof. I settled for slamming him into the nearest girder with one hand, tearing the briefcase away from him with my other hand. His head slammed into the girder with an audible "clang" and I smelled the strong scent of urine. His glasses flew from his face and happened to land right next to my foot. Stepping on them was a sheer coincidence too, I promise you. If I had enough time I'd "coincidence" him into the hospital.

I got my face up close with his, let him feel the heat of by breath as I snarled at him. He must have been far-sighted, because he didn't seem to be having any trouble seeing me right now. I could see the reflection of my yellow eyes in his own. I bared my teeth so that as many of them showed as possible. My teeth are pointier than most people's. baring them at someone tends to get the desired effect.

"Is English not your first language? I gotta speak French, maybe Spanish, to get you to understand? 'Mettez l'argent dans le baril et partez'? 'Ponga el dinero en el barril y váyase'? Do you understand now?" His bladder betrayed him again.

"I... I don't understand, I thought we had a meeting Mr. Wolf- grrck!" He stopped talking because I had dropped the briefcase and grabbed his throat, shutting off his windpipe. My nails were digging into his flesh.

"Don't. Call. Me. That." I barely even spoke at a whisper. I'd narrowed my eyes, and my nose was almost touching Cranshaw's as I kept tightening my grip on him. Cranshaw was starting to turn interesting shades of blue and purple.

"Gack, gurk!" He managed to get out.

I have excellent hearing, beyond what anyone would expect possible. I heard the click of the bolt action of the rifle closing. My anger drained from me instantly as my survival instinct kicked in. I threw Cranshaw to one side as I dove to the other. Maybe the shooter would get confused and hit him by mistake. Maybe he'd just be surprised and slip on squeezing the trigger a fraction of a second. I didn't really care so long as the end result was that I avoided a bullet wound. This all assumed that I had correctly predicted where the shot would be coming from based on the direction of the sound of the click. For all I knew, I could be leaping into an even better position for the shooter to hit me.

The bullet didn't hit either of us, though it took a large chunk of the ground out. I landed in a roll, my eyes darting back and forth as I tried to pick out where the shooter was. I noticed Cranshaw land in a heap some distance away, sucking in large amounts of air. I also noticed that the briefcase of money was only a few feet from where the bullet had impacted. If I wanted some profit out of this exchange, I was going to need to put myself back into position to take a bullet in the head.

I should have known. Whenever someone breaks the rules, something bad happens. It's the universal rule. And it never gets broken.

I Survived Kings Island

Took the whole family (minus Lex, who stayed with Nana and Papa for the day) to Kings Island yesterday. Fun was had by all. We got there around 9:30 or 9:45 AM, before the park had even opened. We stayed until 10:00 PM so the kids could see the fireworks. So yeah, long day.

We started our day by taking a trip to the top of the replica Eiffel Tower. The kids were really impressed by the size (and even more impressed when I explained that the real thing was three times the size of the one we were on), and loved looking at the whole park. Cassandra kept trying to identify all the rollercoasters and figuring out which ones she could go on. Cassandra's 52 inches in height, which makes her able to ride all but 4 rides at the park. Caleb, on the other hand, is still only 43 inches. Which means he is not able to ride many of the rides outside of the Nickolodean area.

Next stop was the Backstage Stunt Coaster. The line was short, so it really wasn't a problem for Caleb and I to wait for Lisa and Cassandra to go on the ride. At one point the coaster goes through a tunnel that's pitch black, and it freaked Cassandra out a little. this was her first coaster, so we had wanted to see how she'll react. The line was still short, and I hadn't been on a coaster in years, so I pulled Cassandra back into line and took her on the coaster again. She had more fun the second time.

Our second real ride (I don't count the Eiffel Tower as a ride) was the Shake Rattle & Roll... otherwise known as one of those rides that wants to send you running for the Dramamine. Caleb rode with Lisa, and I rode with Cassandra. Cassandra and I had a good time, but Caleb was freaked out at first. He calmed down and said he loved the ride, and both kids insisted we go on the Scrambler next. I rode with Caleb, and he did fine on that ride; it doesn't send you into the air and isn't as fast. Unfortunately, my tolerance for those rides is low, and I insisted we find someplace where I could grab a bite to eat to help settle my stomach (plus it was around 11:00 AM at this point, so I figured we could use a bite of lunch). The kids weren't hungry for food, but Lisa persuaded them to get some ice cream. I stopped by a Skyline Chili booth and grabbed a cheese coney (Lisa doesn't really like Skyline, so I never get the chance to have them any more).

After our food (and a quick call to Nana and Papa to see how Lex's 11:00 AM feeding had gone), we headed out for more rides! After a quick stop for Cassandra and I to ride the bumper cars (Caleb was too short for these, and Lisa doesn't like them), Nickolodean was our goal, and we started our time there with Scooby Doo's Haunted Castle. The time predicted for the line was 45 minutes, but I'd say we were only in line for 15, maybe 20 minutes tops. Unfortunately, we had a group of obnoxious teens who Lisa reported were unconcerned about their backpacks hitting others, so Lisa was unhappy. Cassandra and I rode together. You get "flashlight guns" that you aim at targets to "scare away the ghosts" and your cart (or Mini Mystery Machine) keeps track of your score. I hit the high score for  both carts at 1020, while poor Cassandra only got 90. The kids loved it, and we discovered an actor in a Scooby costume outside. We had each kid take a picture with Scooby, and it looked like Caleb was never going to stop hugging the poor guy (or gal).

Our next ride was some sort of helicoptor ride... ok, if by helicoptor you mean "really boring mechanized helicoptor ride meant to appease toddlers". Caleb had fun, but the rest of us found it excrutiating. Then we went to the Fairly Odd Coaster. Caleb and Lisa got on, but Cassandra and I ended up losing our seats to a couple of brats (I want to use another name, but I'll refrain) who cut line. The attendants weren't helping sort the passengers or anything. I was furious. Cassandra and I skipped the next train so that Lisa wouldn't be worrying about what happened to us, so we never got to ride the coaster. She offered to let us go again (the line wasn't that bad), but I just wanted away from the attendants.

We split up briefly at that point. Lisa took Cassandra to ride the Runaway Reptar coaster (Caleb was too small, I refuse to do anything involving the Rugrats). I took caleb to some small kiddie cars that he road by himself. He had a great time and wanted to go again, but I decided to check on Lisa and Cassandra and see if they were still in line. If we'd had time I was going to have Caleb ride the Merry-Go-Round. Poor Caleb didn't get the chance; the girls were just getting on the coaster when we found the exit.

Since the kids hadn't really had anything to eat I insisted we stop and get real food in our systems. $40.00 later we had a corn dog meal (Cassandra), a hamburger meal (Caleb), chicken tenders meal (Lisa), and Chicken Club Sandwich meal (me). Lisa and I got one of the 46 oz Souvenier Jugs since you could refill it all day for only $1.99 (we figured that would save on the cost of liquids). Our timing for the meal sucked. We had purchasd tickets for an all-you-can-eat BBQ from 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM, and quickly realized that it was almost 2:00 PM. We put an end to the meal so that the kids would still be hungry, and left in search of new rides.

(We had made a discovery at this point; my cargo shorts have endless pockets. I'd been carrying a bottle of Power-Aid around since the ice cream in them, and now they were carrying both kids' apple juice bottles, a bottle of sun screen - more on that later - plus my keys, cell, and wallet, each in nice plastic baggies so they wouldn't get wet.)

We rode the Wild Thornberry's River Adventure ride next (I remember it as simply the Log Ride from my youth). We loved it. Caleb and I sat in the back of the log, with Lisa and Cassandra in the very front. We got wet, an animatronic elephant sprayed us... and we had fun! During the line I noticed that Lisa was getting a little red, and she realized she had slathered sun screen on her face, arms and legs (she had on a tank top and capris), but had missed the exposed portion of her chest. She has a sun burn now. Both of us burn like nobody's business, but I had kept the sunscreen on, so I am unmarked (a welcome departure from my norm).

We rode the train to Boomerang Bay next so we could get dry. Ok, picture this irony: to get dry, we TOOK THE TRAIN TO THE WATER PARK. The kids wanted to ride some water slides, but since none of had swimsuits we refused. After getting turned around a few time we walked back toward Kings Island proper and discovered Picinic Grove (where our BBQ was being held). It was just getting started so we hopped in. The food was pretty decent for an all-you-can-eat buffet-style lunch (and much better than what we had paid for inside the park). We made the kids eat more than what they wanted, since this was dinner and it was only around 4:15 PM, but rewarded them with more ice cream (ice cream sandwich for Caleb, and Cassandra initially refused ice cream, but quickly accepted the drumstick I brought back for her). We had one unfortunate incident at this point. A guy at the BBQ started screaming that his baby was having a seizure. It wasn't, because it showed no signs of shaking. But considering the temperature was probably mid-to-high 70's, and they had been pushing the baby around IN A STROLLER COVERED WITH A BLANKET, heat stroke wasn't out of the question We had to leave the BBQ at this point... Lisa was really bothered by this, but we were happy to see first aid attendents on this scene within a few minutes. Lisa couldn't get the event out of her head, so we walked back to ye olde log ride and rode it again, switching positions and getting even more soaked. We took pictures.

It was time for Cassandra's first REAL roller coaster. Now, when I was younger my family made a near-annual trip to King's Island, and my fondest memories are of riding the Beast with my father. I had insisted on taking Cassandra on the Beast, and that was where we went next. We rode in the front-half of the coaster, and she did really well even though I had to hold her hand and her head was bouncing all over the place. She kept saying "oh no" at every hill, and almost freaked when we hit the first tunnel, but over all she did really well! We met Caleb and Lisa outside the Vortex. Lisa had taken Caleb on the carousel and the Monster (another sick-to-your-stomach ride) while they waited for us. Lisa was going to take Cassandra on the Vortex next, but she wasn't ready for it, especially the loops, so they went on the Racer again while Caleb and I chilled out.

Next stop, the Viking Ship. Fun, but it always makes me queasy. Then we took a break because I was feeling extremely worn out. We got some refills and sat by the fountains while I recoverd, and the scouted out the souvenier shops so we could plan the purchases that we wanted to make later. I remembered that my grandmother who passed away in February always bought saltwater taffy when we went to King's Island, so I insisted that I buy some before we left in memory of her. I don't even remember if I LIKE saltwater taffy, but that's really beside the point. Some things you just do out of love, y'know?

We headed back to Nickolodean and rode the Scooby Doo ride again, but no one did well with the guns this time around. Then we let the kids ride the kiddie bumber cars. Caleb couldn't get the steering down and ended up spinning in circles. Cassandra was merciless and took full advantage of his troubles, nailing her brother into a corner. They had a great time. We put them on Little Bill's Giggle Coaster next, and ended up having pictures of them made into a key chain and a magnet. Caleb looks like he's about to poop his pants, and Cassandra is grinning. They took a second picture where Caleb had a better expression on his face (at least from what we could see while we watched them on the ride), but in the photo Cassandra's arm was at just the right angle to make it look like she was elbowing him in the eye. It was funny, but didn't make for a great souvenier.

Now let's get something straight. I like coasters, but I'm not a coaster-junkie. It had been 12 years since I'd been to an amusement park, and I hadn't really thought about them at all. Lisa is NOT the same. She's a junkie, and has no interest in going the rehab. It had been 6 years for her, but she'd talked about us going multiple times. The kids were too small at that point though, so we never went. Now that we were at a park, Lisa wanted a big coaster. Hell, she deserved a big coaster. Cassandra still wasn't up for the Vortex, but wanted to try Son of the Beast (we explained that the Vortex was slower and smaller, but the loops scared her). They got in line for Son of the Beast, and Caleb and I hung out outside the ride watching the Drop Tower and Thunder Alley rides.

They never got on the ride. Cassandra finally saw the first hill and that was that. But so what? There's always next year. We went to the Drop Tower next, and Lisa and Cassandra rode that. 27 stories high, dropping at 65 mph... looked like fun, but it was too much for Cassandra. Poor girl broke down into tears. Lisa and I decided that it was time to stop the rides for the day, and since it was 9:00 PM we would have needed to quit anyway.

We bought Caleb a sword that looked like a red lightsaber from one of the street venders. He was really happy. We went back to international street and got Cassandra a Princess Hat she had wanted. I got a coffee mug with The Beast logo on it. Lisa found a Native American-style bead bracelet she really liked. And I got my saltwater taffy. (Later I discovered that we had gotten a HUGE discount on the items... apparently the cashier hadn't actually scanned the hat or the bracelet; too late for us to do anything about it, but I'm sure the park didn't lose that much money). We bought some light-up rabbit ears for Cassandra outside, and Caleb got a similar set of devil's horns. Ice cream cones for Lisa and the kids, a root beer float for me, and we waited for the fireworks display, which the kids loved.

And then the drive home, which was NOT fun. Apparently going 70 mph on cruise control just isn't GOOD ENOUGH for most drivers until I'd been forced to brake to let them pass and then resumed my speed. AND THEN they wanted to go the speed limit! I started "editing" the words to the song on the radio to express my displeasure, and Lisa had trouble talking to her mother on the phone through her laughter. The kids were asleep in the back within 10 minutes.

A quick stop by Nana and Papa's to pick up Lex (thank you both again for watching im), and we were home. We imitated zombies for a while, and then hit the sack. It was a good, if expensive, day. Caleb's already talking about going back next year so he can be tall enough to ride more rides. I can't wait.

End of Demented Rambling.

I HATE making changes in the computer

I just got done editing Children of Llothora... blech.

I love writing the first draft, I love taking a red pen to that draft and writing the needed changes to a printout.

I hate the process of then hunting down each change I've made in the manuscript on the computer. It's tedious as hell and it makes my eyes hurt. 

But now it's done. Now I can repeat the process again to make certain I haven't missed anything (or inadvertantly caused problems). After that I'll send the story to Wierd Tales and we'll see what happens!

End of Demented Rambling.

Award Ceremony

We just got back from going to an award ceremony held for Cassandra's second grade class. Her teacher, Miss. Buchenroth, made awards with candy attached for the students. It was cute, and it looked like every student got one. Cassandra received an award for being a good assistant in the classroom that had malted milk balls attached.

We took Caleb and Lex with us. Caleb was full of questions (and seems to be convinced that Cassandra is going into middle school next year - the big goober head), and Lex was just loving walking on the VCT and showing off for the other kids at Cassandra's table.

I did my fatherly duty while there: I embaressed the hell out of Cassandra in front of her friends. Took some pictures of her (see the Facebook page if you want to view them), pointed out when she was blushing, asked her what "muic" was (she had to write her favorite memory and forgot the 's' when she wrote: "Going to music").

It was a good time. My only regret is that the biological father told her that he'd try to make it to the ceremony... even told us in front of the kids to make certain we sent him a copy of the paperwork so he'd remember to go (which we did)... and then he didn't show. And she wasn't surprised. She never even expected him to be there. Seriously, if you don't give a damn if your flesh and blood cares if you show up to things or are part her life, what's the point in calling her your daughter? I just don't get it.

Oh well. Guess it's a good thing I'm more than happy to step up to the plate.

End of Demented Rambling.

The End of the Tunnel is in my Sights!

This morning I have finished the first draft of The Horror in the Basement, now retitled "Children of Llothora". It ended at approximately 9,200 words and 40 pages in standard manuscript format. I've already printed out a copy and begun to edit it. After 14 pages of taking the red pen to my work I need to stop. My eyes are starting to ache from the dim light and I need a break.

I'm happy that I've gotten this far and my editing is going along at a fair pace. I should be able to pick back up my draft after a shower and some lunch and finish marking the pages up tonight. Tomorrow I'll make the changes in the computer and print out another copy to take a red pen to. Lather, rinse, repeat until done. My goal is to get the manuscript off to Wierd Tales by Monday despite the trip to King's Island and my Star Wars game on Sunday.

Most first efforts are rejected, and I'm fully prepared for this with my story. I'm still optimisitc though. I'm enjoying what I'm reading even as I correct mistakes, and I think it's a good piece. With any luck other people will see that too.

End of Demented Rambling.

Addressing General Complaints Re: 4e continued

Continuing on from the last post.

4e is more about roll-playing than 3rd edition.

Bullshit I say!

I don't even understand how this claim can be made. Is there a rule in the 4e books that I haven't noticed that says "Thine adventures shall consist of nothing more than combat after endless combat?" or "Speak not with thine DM's NPCs, except to mock them as thine broadsword cleaves they're worthless skulls from their bodies?"

Ok, the above rules would be kind of funny, but they just aren't in there nor are any other rules like it.

Let's compare editions.

3rd Edition social skills: Diplomacy, Bluff, Intimidate, Gather Information, Sense Motive.

(I don't rule Perform as such because by the rules Perform checks simply generated GP... they had no actual effect in social situations.)

4th Edition social skills: Diplomacy, Bluff, Insight, Intimidate, Streetwise.

Hmmm... same number of skills.

3rd Edition Diplomacy = 4e Diplomacy.

3rd Edition Bluff = 4e Bluff.

3rd Edition Intimidate = 4e Intimidate.

3rd Edition Gather Information = 4e Streetwise.

3rd Edition Sense Motive = 4e Insight.

Ok... our skills function the same ofr social situations... Maybe the explanations for the skills in 4e say that they don't work outside of combat?

Bluff: "You make a bluff check to fast-talk, con a merchant, gamble, pass off a disguise, or fake documentation, and otherwise tell lies." (4e PHB, page 183.)

Nope... nothing requiring you to be in combat there, though they DO have rules for using Bluff in combat.

Diplomacy: "Make a Diplomacy check to change opinions, to inspire good will, to haggle with a patron, to demonstrate proper etiquette and decorum, or to negotiate a deal in good faith." (4e PHB, page 183.)

Huh. Not even rules mentioning combat. They DO mention that most Diplomacy checks will take place in Skill Challenges though.

Insight: "You make an insight check to comprehend motives, to read between the lines, to get a sense of moods and attitudes, and to determine how truthful someone is being." (4e PHB, page 185.)

It mentions that using Insight against Bluff in combat is a minor action... but that's it so far as combat goes.

I'm stopping at this point because I think my point about social skills is clear. 4e has the same number, the same uses (actually some of them do more than just social interaction... Insight can determine if an effect is illusionary for instance). And 4e characters have greater access to these skills; Fighters have Streetwise on their class list for instance, not just Intimidate. So now I have a skill meant to represent that my Fighter is competant at chatting people up in bars and town for information!

So how does 4e not facilitate roleplaying? Oh, right, it insists that you ROLL instead of ROLE play... How? Because it doesn't have a "profession" skill? Shit, that's easy. Open up the PHB2 and read the section on Backgrounds... you want to be a carpenter in addition to whatever class you are? Ok... you are! Now exactly what effect do you want that to have on the game?

The real answer is... it doesn't have one. How many times is being a carpenter going to come into play? Or a baker, or anything else that you can't ROLEPLAY THE SITUATION OUT? Having a "Profession" skill just gives you a way to roll situation away.

4e introduces actual rules for REWARDING roleplaying social situations through skill challenges. Wait, you say, those rules just encourage you to roll for results! No. Read the section again. When you make your skill checks the rules encourage you to NARRATE the results. They encourage the DM to prompt players to explain HOW they use a skill for that situation. This is roleplaying. It isn't amateur acting, but it IS playing to a role. It encourages you to use the DM's best friend rule to award a +2 or -2 to the check for creative use of the skill check (like maybe a rousing speech?). And then it tells the DM how they can award XP to a party for going through this social interaction instead of just killing the NPCs and taking their stuff.

They had rules for that in previous editions.... wait, not really. They had "story XP" that you saw in modules, but no real guidelines on how to award it.

If your group wants to run 4e as a skirmish tactical game they can... and it'll be a hell of a lot of fun for your group! If they want to narrate every conversation and ignore skill checks for the results they can, but they won't find rules for it (nor will they in any RPG that I know of). If they want to narrate their social actions and then make a skill check they can.

There's as much roleplaying as there always has been.

End of Demented Rambling.

Addressing General Complaints Re: 4th Edition

Had an online Chat with my friend Josh today where he asked me what I liked about 4th Edition D&D and listed some complaints he had with it. He had to leave to help his girlfriend with something, but I thought I'd address a couple of common issues I've heard agains the newest edition of D&D (not necessarily what Josh addressed, though some of it is the same).

4th Edition is Just a Pen and Paper MMO.

Sorry. I've got to disagree. An accurate statement would be 4th Edition uses terminology made popular by MMOs to help express elements of the game that have always been there. What do I mean? I'll start with the Roles used to define classes in D&D.

If you see the terms Defender, Striker, Leader, and Controller you can certainly draw parallels to things like Tank, Striker, Healer, etc. used by MMOs. The important thing to remember is that Roles do not define what a character is; they define what a class is BEST AT. They are hardly the be-all, end-all of a class. Here's an example.

In most MMOs, if I play a Tank I'm going to be good for only a couple of things: taking hits and pulling aggro to myself. This is because MMOs are limited by the confines of AIs and the inability of the monsters and adversaries to make intelligent decisions. Monsters et al will focus on whomever provokes aggro against them and not against the most logical target.

In D&D there are 4 Defender classes in print at the moment: Fighter, Paladin, Swordmage, and Warden. The Defender role is designed to try to focus attacks on them by forcing enemies to make bad decisions, punishing them if they attack another target. Each class also has another role that they participate in, though they are best at the Defender role.

So take a Fighter. He marks everything he makes an attack roll against, giving the enemy a -2 to any attack roll that does not involve him (or her, to be fair gender-wise) as a target. In addition, any attempt to shift away from the Fighter or attack another target gives the Fighter a free attack against the marked enemy. If the enemy provokes an opportunity attack by moving away from the Fighter (regardless of whether it is marked or not) the Fighter stops its movement if he hits with his opportunity attack, and gets a bonus to hit with those attacks.  In other words, it's like screaming at an enemy "Don't turn your back on me, I'm your real opponent!"

This is NOT the same as pulling aggro. The Fighter does not have any inherit ability to force an opponent to face him. The DM may always choose to have a marked target attack another, it just might not be a smart choice for that monster. While the Fighter does have exploits that allow him to pull a specific creature to him, the player must CHOOSE for the Fighter to have this exploit. It is the player's CHOICE to build his or her character to do that. Let's look at a specific power: "Come and Get It" (Fighter level 7 Encounter Exploit). The Fighter shifts all enemies within 3 squares of him 2 squares so they end adjacent to him and then makes an attack against all adjacent enemies (marking all of them in the progress). This is very similar to "pulling aggro" in an MMO. But I don't HAVE to pick that exploit. There are 4 other level 7 encounter exploits I can select instead that do different things; one imposes an attack penalty on the target, another increases the Fighter's AC, the third does additional damage, and the fourth lets the Fighter move without provoking opportunity attacks. In fact, looking through all the Fighter exploits in the PHB from levels 1 through 30... that is the ONLY POWER that pulls enemies to you. Every other power that causes forced movement shifts already adjacent enemies or pushes them. For a Fighter to make an enemy focus on him he must directly engage the enemy, and can normally do so against only one enemy at a time (with a few powers providing exceptions to this statement).

Not, in my opinion, very MMO-like at all.

Now let's compare roles to previous editions. We'll use the Fighter again.

What does a Fighter in 3rd do? Well, just by looking at the Class Entry we can see that he a) wears every type of armor and b) can use every type of weapon and c) gets one of the highest HD in the game. Oh, and he has NO OTHER CLASS FEATURES. In other words: Wear good armor so things miss a lot, swing heavy weapon to do damage, and have lots of hit points to soak up damage. Which is another way of saying that the default for him was to engage the enemies and take punishment otherwise meant for other party members... in other words he's a Defender, but a bad one because he has no default means of keeping an enemy focused on you (in fact if you're AC and damage are doing their jobs the enemy will want to GO AROUND YOU because there's nothing other than a single attack you can do to stop him.)

1st & 2nd Edition... the Fighter is... well, he wears heavy armor and uses a big weapon to engage the front lines of his foes while his allies attack from behind or at range.... Yup, that's a Defender. Of course they also fulfil 4e's role of melee striker because in these editions there wasn't anyone else to actually perform that role.

Let's compare other classes roles in combat (because that's as far as a role is supposed to effect a character - combat). Rogues? In both 4th and 4rd they are Strikers because their Sneak Attack class features present for large amounts of damage in specific situations, and they are lightly armored and mobile (3rd did it by making Tumble a necessity for the Rogue, 4th does it by giving the Rogue a lot of powers that let them shift to avoid opportunity attacks). In earlier editions they don't fill this role, but that's because Thieves (not Rogues) weren't meant to really do much of anything in combat, they were supposed to be checking for traps and opening locks.

Clerics? In 4th Edition they're Leaders, meaning they support other characters through providing Buffs and Healing. Really, the role should probably be called Support, but who would really be drawn to playing that? In 4th Edition the Cleric gets one of the best healing powers in the game and plenty of powers to provide bonuses to their party members in combat. Plus rituals for out of combat stuff. In 3rd? Well, their spell list DEFAULTED to healing spells... a strong indication of how they were meant to be played. They had a lot of buff spells... The only thing that's changed is that 3rd Edition Clerics were broken into being able to basically be ANY CLASS THEY WANTED because they could just buff themselves into the proper class/role. In 1st/2nd edition they were mainly walking healing potions, or a single facet of the Leader role.

D&D came up with roles first. MMOs were created to emulate elements of D&D and found terminology to help explain these elements to new players. 4e is simply taking the improved terminology back.

Your mileage may vary, but when I see a D&D class I don't see an MMO class. I see the same thing I've bben seeing since the 1980s with updated terminology and mechanics.

MMOs commonly use grinds to level up characters, or collection quests to get PCs started. D&D doesn't do that UNLESS THE DM WANTS IT TO. I'm not going to the forest and killing hundreds of respawning wolves to get that next level; I'm goin through planned encounters.

Random loot drops? MMOs stole that from D&D (go back to early edition DMGs with random treasure tables that they expected you to use and try to claim otherwise). 4e advocates pre-planned treasure parcels placed throughout the adventure as the DM sees fit, customizing them to help empower your players' choices ("I know you built your character to use an axe... but here's A SWORD instead" isn't really encouraged, and you'll never hear "I know you took a feat to use that Fullblade, but I keep rolling hammers on the treasure table!" in the 4e DMG).

Stupid AIs that say the same thing over and over again? Only if the DM is lazy.

Not being able to avoid a combat through negotiation or stealth? That's the way it flies in an MMO. 4e provides mechanics so you can still earn xp while not fighting the monsters.

Spending 30 minutes explaining raid tactics to your group while the boss is ON THE SCREEN? Again, only if the DM lets you do it (personally, Orcus is already attacking you. Keep talking if you want).

In summery, 4e's rules don't support it being an MMO any more than previous editions do. It borrows effective terminology to help explain concepts to new players (a smart business strategy), and continues to use elements that MMOs took from early editions of D&D. 

4e only plays like an MMO if you make it.

I'll continue with other points in later posts.

End of Demented Rambling.

Back in Eberron Again

I haven't written anything set in Eberron in a long time, but I just wrote the pitch for an Eberron Adventure to submit to Dungeon Magazine. With the Eberron Player's Guide releasing in just a few days and Campaign Guide releasing shortly thereafter, I think they might be looking for some Eberron-goodness in that setting.

It feels good to revisit Eberron. I really love the feeling of the world and the fact that something about it just screams "cinematic action!" to me. It's hard for me to think small in Eberron. I just want to starting blowing shit up and having epic battles on airships while dinosaur-riders swoop down on the PCs and horribly mutated Daelky-worshiping suspend captives above a large vat containing some sort of animated ooze in a chamber with large Khyber Dragonshards jutting out of the walls.

Y'know, the FUN stuff!

"Let Sleeping Giants Lie" doesn't have the best title ever, but it starts out with the inn the PCs are trying to stay the night in EXPLODING right before the PCs arrive, just in time for the PCs to see the burning body of a Shifter Druid run out of the explosion and beg them to finish her quest with her last gasp. Follow that with a battle with assassins atop a series of bridges suspended above a drop that spells certain death to anyone who falls, a dungeon crawl to stop an ancient mutated Giant from awkening and destroying Sharn, a betrayal at the bottom of the dungeon and then a rush to escape the crumbling caverns afterword...

Indiana Jones, you can take your Crystal Skull and shove it back up E.T.'s ass!

I really WANT to write this and get it published! I'm salivating at the thought! Hell, I want to PLAY THIS, right now! Bring on Eberron-goodness, now!

End of Demented Rambling.