What I've been up to.
The deal is, I've been up to so much stuff lately (and trying to go to bed a bit earlier) that I haven't been spending as much time in front of the computer at home. I keep up with fi-uh and FB on my phone, but LJ's a little more difficult on a mobile platform. But I do love LJ, even if it's less populous than it once was. If nothing else, it's a helpful way for me to remember what the hell I was up to at any given time. Here's what's been going on since my last post:
WEEK 1
Recover, goodbye drinks with LadyNee, relax with mrsmetallian for the first time in forever, saw Inception (we dug it), saw a chalk drawing contest at the mall (including a great Lion-O), and probably did something else, too, but I forget what.
WEEK 2
Bade farewell to crysodenkirk, attended IceShadow's housewarming party and met the baby, saw Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (we REALLY dug it) with fortinbras16 and shandril, started watching Avatar: THe Last Airbender. (Late to the party, I know.)
The next day, we attended K's last play in Milwaukee (before he leaves for the UK) at the Boulevard Theatre.
WEEK 3
Work got interesting (but not overwhelming, yet) for the first time in a while, accompanied mrsmetallian to Madison so she could use the electron microprobe there and attended GeekKon while I was there. It was fun. I played 7th Sea, saw a lot of cosplayers, watched some anime, and ran into matt_m_mcelroy and darkshiver, among others. mrsmetallian ended up needing to set up a microprobe run overnight so she joined me at the convention late in the vening. We went to a couple of room parties hosted by people who run other cons in the state, which was fun.
The next morning, we ended up stumbling into the fabled "Taste of Madison" (no, not a porno shoot) and eating our way through with fortinbras16, shandril, Front Toward Enemy, A, and little P. A band called Cobzweb was dishing out some classic metal, including a cover of Iron Maiden's Powerslave, which was weird and awesome. Afterward, we played Castle Ravenloft, which felt a little too much like something that happened to me rather than something I did for my tastes, but I've been told that it was an unusually brutal and chaotic session so I'd give it another shot.
On Labor Day, our original plans for grilling went awry, so we ended up doing a bunch of Korean food instead, which was rad. And we got to see the newly-minted Doctor rebeccavich, returned from her summer travels!
WEEK 4
I think this was the week when we started mazecontroller's Smallville ("Gotham Knights") game and Trail of Cthulhu game. For Smallville, I play a shady ex-henchman bartender trying to go (mostly) straight, and mrsmetallian's an eager young law student with a secret metahuman power. In TOC, I play a blustery, older gentleman, a veteran of the British Empire's many wars, who just can't quit the action. mrsmetallian is Professor Smart (yes, that's her real name), the resident scientist.
WEEK 5
Let's see...we hosted the annual Geosciences Department BBQ, which was a great success. However, I got to bed late and had to wake up early for the Habitat for Humanity project I was arranging...which was canceled due to the rain. This was the first time I'd had an event cancelled, and had to make way too many phone calls as a result. Afterward, we played Trail of Cthulhu again, and I didn't start passing out at the table until near the end.
The next day, we attended the Cedarburg Wine & Harvest Festival for the first time in a few years. It was fun. I had an apple brat.
We also watched Seven Samurai for the first time. We had to break it up over the course of three nights. It was great. Now we know what all of the fuss is about.
WEEK 6
Went over to fortinbras16's and shandril's and Decoy's place to play Ascension and watch a hilariously bad vampire movie starring Jason Mewes. We almost watched Buckaroo Banzai as well (I've watched it twice, but got too drunk to follow the middle part both times), but got too tired and went home instead.
The next day, T had a cookout before his Champions game. We ate bear that D's father had hunted. It was pretty damned tasty. The surprise for T's players was that I (and fortinbras16) were actually guest-starring as NPCs in T's game. Despite the players' suspicions, I was not playing my usual Guest NPC/pseudo-PC (who they all hate) in disguise, I was playing a Simple Country Lawyer. T gave them all bonus XP for not attacking the lawyer just because he was played by me. ^_^
WEEK 7
Nothing out of the ordinary really went on this week. I had a late-night release for work on Tuesday, and twice mrsmetallian kept me up late playing Ascension (she loves it), so by Friday night I was beat. Alas, I had to wake up early to take mrsmetallian to work so she could board a bus for her class' field trip Up North. I came home, took a long nap, went to the farmers market and bought too much food, went to the gym, and then sort of bummed around the house accomplishing nothing. I had some vague plans for the evening, but they fell through, which is just as well because I'm stupidly tired. It also gives me time to update LJ.
I may try out for a part in a friend's film tomorrow, because why not?
CAN'T PLACE IT
On one of those weekends, we knocked ourselves out catching up on yard work. I cut down and chopped up a whole tree that was hopelessly drooping and in the way. I failed to repair the fence, because I couldn't find any brown, vinyl-coated chain link fabric. I may be able to salvage some of the fallen bits of lattice, however.
At some point, we went over to fortinbras16's and shandril's and Decoy's place and had Thai food and watched this bizarre Luc Besson/Christopher Lambert film called Subway. Christopher Lambert's character basically engages in bizarre behavior with the colorful denizens of the Parisian underground. I would not call it "good" in the conventional sense (though apparently it's critically acclaimed in France) but it was weirdly compelling, very 80s, and (unintentionally?) hilarious.
ONGOING TRENDS
We've generally been spending more quality time together and enjoying each other's company to an exceptional degree after mrsmetallian's long absence in Tanzania. We've gone biking together a few times. We've gotten back on track with fitness. We watched season 1 of Avatar: The Last Airbender. My new post-GenCon tinnitus got me down a bit at times, though there's been some improvement over the past week.
Everyone seems even more interested in gaming lately, with new games springing up left and right. The regular L5R game has gotten pretty crazy lately...we are now in the midst of Kisada's Gambit. (We've also been getting more XP than usual, so yay for that.) I, myself, may actually run that TMNT game I was talking about last spring. My work has been very engaging lately, after a bit of a drought. Not a bad late summer/early fall if I do say so.
WEEK 1
Recover, goodbye drinks with LadyNee, relax with mrsmetallian for the first time in forever, saw Inception (we dug it), saw a chalk drawing contest at the mall (including a great Lion-O), and probably did something else, too, but I forget what.
WEEK 2
Bade farewell to crysodenkirk, attended IceShadow's housewarming party and met the baby, saw Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (we REALLY dug it) with fortinbras16 and shandril, started watching Avatar: THe Last Airbender. (Late to the party, I know.)
The next day, we attended K's last play in Milwaukee (before he leaves for the UK) at the Boulevard Theatre.
WEEK 3
Work got interesting (but not overwhelming, yet) for the first time in a while, accompanied mrsmetallian to Madison so she could use the electron microprobe there and attended GeekKon while I was there. It was fun. I played 7th Sea, saw a lot of cosplayers, watched some anime, and ran into matt_m_mcelroy and darkshiver, among others. mrsmetallian ended up needing to set up a microprobe run overnight so she joined me at the convention late in the vening. We went to a couple of room parties hosted by people who run other cons in the state, which was fun.
The next morning, we ended up stumbling into the fabled "Taste of Madison" (no, not a porno shoot) and eating our way through with fortinbras16, shandril, Front Toward Enemy, A, and little P. A band called Cobzweb was dishing out some classic metal, including a cover of Iron Maiden's Powerslave, which was weird and awesome. Afterward, we played Castle Ravenloft, which felt a little too much like something that happened to me rather than something I did for my tastes, but I've been told that it was an unusually brutal and chaotic session so I'd give it another shot.
On Labor Day, our original plans for grilling went awry, so we ended up doing a bunch of Korean food instead, which was rad. And we got to see the newly-minted Doctor rebeccavich, returned from her summer travels!
WEEK 4
I think this was the week when we started mazecontroller's Smallville ("Gotham Knights") game and Trail of Cthulhu game. For Smallville, I play a shady ex-henchman bartender trying to go (mostly) straight, and mrsmetallian's an eager young law student with a secret metahuman power. In TOC, I play a blustery, older gentleman, a veteran of the British Empire's many wars, who just can't quit the action. mrsmetallian is Professor Smart (yes, that's her real name), the resident scientist.
WEEK 5
Let's see...we hosted the annual Geosciences Department BBQ, which was a great success. However, I got to bed late and had to wake up early for the Habitat for Humanity project I was arranging...which was canceled due to the rain. This was the first time I'd had an event cancelled, and had to make way too many phone calls as a result. Afterward, we played Trail of Cthulhu again, and I didn't start passing out at the table until near the end.
The next day, we attended the Cedarburg Wine & Harvest Festival for the first time in a few years. It was fun. I had an apple brat.
We also watched Seven Samurai for the first time. We had to break it up over the course of three nights. It was great. Now we know what all of the fuss is about.
WEEK 6
Went over to fortinbras16's and shandril's and Decoy's place to play Ascension and watch a hilariously bad vampire movie starring Jason Mewes. We almost watched Buckaroo Banzai as well (I've watched it twice, but got too drunk to follow the middle part both times), but got too tired and went home instead.
The next day, T had a cookout before his Champions game. We ate bear that D's father had hunted. It was pretty damned tasty. The surprise for T's players was that I (and fortinbras16) were actually guest-starring as NPCs in T's game. Despite the players' suspicions, I was not playing my usual Guest NPC/pseudo-PC (who they all hate) in disguise, I was playing a Simple Country Lawyer. T gave them all bonus XP for not attacking the lawyer just because he was played by me. ^_^
WEEK 7
Nothing out of the ordinary really went on this week. I had a late-night release for work on Tuesday, and twice mrsmetallian kept me up late playing Ascension (she loves it), so by Friday night I was beat. Alas, I had to wake up early to take mrsmetallian to work so she could board a bus for her class' field trip Up North. I came home, took a long nap, went to the farmers market and bought too much food, went to the gym, and then sort of bummed around the house accomplishing nothing. I had some vague plans for the evening, but they fell through, which is just as well because I'm stupidly tired. It also gives me time to update LJ.
I may try out for a part in a friend's film tomorrow, because why not?
CAN'T PLACE IT
On one of those weekends, we knocked ourselves out catching up on yard work. I cut down and chopped up a whole tree that was hopelessly drooping and in the way. I failed to repair the fence, because I couldn't find any brown, vinyl-coated chain link fabric. I may be able to salvage some of the fallen bits of lattice, however.
At some point, we went over to fortinbras16's and shandril's and Decoy's place and had Thai food and watched this bizarre Luc Besson/Christopher Lambert film called Subway. Christopher Lambert's character basically engages in bizarre behavior with the colorful denizens of the Parisian underground. I would not call it "good" in the conventional sense (though apparently it's critically acclaimed in France) but it was weirdly compelling, very 80s, and (unintentionally?) hilarious.
ONGOING TRENDS
We've generally been spending more quality time together and enjoying each other's company to an exceptional degree after mrsmetallian's long absence in Tanzania. We've gone biking together a few times. We've gotten back on track with fitness. We watched season 1 of Avatar: The Last Airbender. My new post-GenCon tinnitus got me down a bit at times, though there's been some improvement over the past week.
Everyone seems even more interested in gaming lately, with new games springing up left and right. The regular L5R game has gotten pretty crazy lately...we are now in the midst of Kisada's Gambit. (We've also been getting more XP than usual, so yay for that.) I, myself, may actually run that TMNT game I was talking about last spring. My work has been very engaging lately, after a bit of a drought. Not a bad late summer/early fall if I do say so.