It's raining opportunities to help, and flaming bags of dogshit.
One of my most important New Year's Resolutions this year is the simple directive, "Look for opportunities to help people." Even in just the few first weeks, I am both humbled and truly amazed at how frequently and easily I find these opportunities when I look for them. Some of them have been amazingly easy: Friend is involved in a mentoring program, asked for an introduction, and I was able to connect her with a great professional in the right field who herself owes a lot to her own mentor. Another friend is running a food drive for his church and mentioned it on the afternoon when I planned to do grocery shopping anyway. (Meanwhile, he mentioned acquaintance with another church volunteer who's actively involved helping the homeless, and my mother and I happened to have a bunch of spare handknit hats to donate.) A third friend needs a place to stay now and then as a couch guy, and we have space and warmth, and good cheer to spare (well, maybe not so much with the space, but we have an inflatable mattress, and that's good enough!). The HR department didn't know how to archive their files offsite, someone needed help working the copier. They're easy things, silly things, and maybe I'd have participated at each opportunity anyhow. It feels good to be mindful of these chances, though. I'm really pleased to find so many. Like Bill Murray says at the end of "Scrooged," you get greedy for it, and you want that feeling every day.
Therein, I mentioned the Couch Guy. He's a friend of Ian's whose personal circumstances present him with the desire to stay somewhere else for a bit. We're trading off couches with our friend Higgins so neither household feels too burdened by the visitor (his choice). The company is polite and cheerful, and he was really an ideal houseguest. I came home a few nights ago to find Ian, Couch Guy, and Higgins all in the living room. It was Taco Night anyway, which always means plenty of food, so I invited Higgins to stay for dinner. We watched "The Universe" during dinner, and there was a lot of laughter and good times and tacos to go around. It gave me pause to consciously appreciate how warm our life is right now, so often filled with good company. Couch Guy stayed Monday through Friday this week, and he'll be back the week after next.
In the midst of an otherwise happy week with Ian's birthday (thank you, Clan Snap, for the hilarious card!) and good company, a few flaming bags of dogshit must be left on the porch. There was what I like to generally categorize as "social bullshit" involving NERO; yes, in fact, those two things DO go together in a classic chocolate and peanut butter combination! Rumors were going around about some guy's villainy as a cheater. I emailed him to ask him about these situations directly. "I heard you did X, Y, and Z. Did you? What's your side of the story?" All seemed well between Suspected Cheater and me. Then things went south. Rumors then flew about our conversation, and what he had said that I had said that someone else had said about something bad that may have happened four years ago. Oy! All of it was complete bullshit, and I had the email to prove it --which, alas, I found myself doing just that with said emails. A-NNOYING! I resented the feeling of being dragged into a dispute that I considered both juvenile and unnecessary. I particularly resented it since my only connection to it was to take what I was pretty proud of as a mature response to wildfire rumors. TRACE SMASH! I hope that the situation is now resolved and put to bed. Like I said, into every life, a few bags of flaming dogshit are occasionally left on the doorstep, and one must deal with the problem.
In LARP news from the other end of the spectrum of enjoyment, I was honored with an invitation to get a sneak peek at some of the work being produced for Legynds' Second Dawn campaign in Georgia. My friend Greg asked me if I would look at their race packets and edit both for grammar and consistency of content. (This was both fun for me AND an opportunity to help! Booyah!) I have to tell you, this campaign looks absolutely fantastic to me! My LARPing friends know how discerning I am, and indeed that's high praise from me. I only wish that I were in a financial position to crazily fly across the country and play regularly. Such as it is, I hope to make it out there at least a couple times to check it out and hang with my friends. If you're in Georgia, do yourself a favor, and take a look at this campaign. I think it's going to be amazing! Anyway, their races are shaping up to be really interesting. Reading through the packets has been like a trip to an excellent buffet. I get so excited by one dish that I want to stuff my face into it and gorge, and then, look! The next thing is just as wonderful! I want to play this, and this, and one of those! It's probably just as well that I'm not in a position to play regularly since I don't know how I'd ever make the choice of which race to play from so many awesome choices! Lemme quantify this for my LARPer friends who know my tastes really well: I'd even want to play one of their tree people. That's right! You know I love some druid plot! (By which I mean that I outright despise druid plot.) And yet even their race of tree people, the Entgrown, looks totally awesome to me. I'm telling you -- check it out.
Continuing in a veritable streak of geek activity, Ian and I are going to start two table-top roleplaying campaigns this weekend. Tonight we go to start Pathfinder in the Council of Thieves setting with a large group of NERO friends. I may have been talked into playing a bard. Very much looking forward to that tonight! I even made a plate of Million Layer Dip to bring to the game, and I don't make that nearly as often as I should. Tomorrow evening we start a smaller game of Exalted at our friend Tony's place at the other end of our apartment complex.
chinook_wind received her pirate hat in the mail on Thursday! I got a thank you note from her that is ever so nice! I am so happy that I decided to take up that "silly" Facebook meme about handmade gifts. I told her that knitting that hat was really a gift for me since I had such fun with it! When you participate in some art or handcraft, I think particularly something that's meant to be put into everyday use (thank you, Ms. Walker), it's just such a thrill to know it's in the hands (or on the head) of someone who'll really appreciate it and use it often. I'll share photos soon.
I'm still in my pajamas, drinking Coke for breakfast, and I think I'll indulge in some Civ 5 while the laundry's running. I love a lazy weekend morning!
Trace
Therein, I mentioned the Couch Guy. He's a friend of Ian's whose personal circumstances present him with the desire to stay somewhere else for a bit. We're trading off couches with our friend Higgins so neither household feels too burdened by the visitor (his choice). The company is polite and cheerful, and he was really an ideal houseguest. I came home a few nights ago to find Ian, Couch Guy, and Higgins all in the living room. It was Taco Night anyway, which always means plenty of food, so I invited Higgins to stay for dinner. We watched "The Universe" during dinner, and there was a lot of laughter and good times and tacos to go around. It gave me pause to consciously appreciate how warm our life is right now, so often filled with good company. Couch Guy stayed Monday through Friday this week, and he'll be back the week after next.
In the midst of an otherwise happy week with Ian's birthday (thank you, Clan Snap, for the hilarious card!) and good company, a few flaming bags of dogshit must be left on the porch. There was what I like to generally categorize as "social bullshit" involving NERO; yes, in fact, those two things DO go together in a classic chocolate and peanut butter combination! Rumors were going around about some guy's villainy as a cheater. I emailed him to ask him about these situations directly. "I heard you did X, Y, and Z. Did you? What's your side of the story?" All seemed well between Suspected Cheater and me. Then things went south. Rumors then flew about our conversation, and what he had said that I had said that someone else had said about something bad that may have happened four years ago. Oy! All of it was complete bullshit, and I had the email to prove it --which, alas, I found myself doing just that with said emails. A-NNOYING! I resented the feeling of being dragged into a dispute that I considered both juvenile and unnecessary. I particularly resented it since my only connection to it was to take what I was pretty proud of as a mature response to wildfire rumors. TRACE SMASH! I hope that the situation is now resolved and put to bed. Like I said, into every life, a few bags of flaming dogshit are occasionally left on the doorstep, and one must deal with the problem.
In LARP news from the other end of the spectrum of enjoyment, I was honored with an invitation to get a sneak peek at some of the work being produced for Legynds' Second Dawn campaign in Georgia. My friend Greg asked me if I would look at their race packets and edit both for grammar and consistency of content. (This was both fun for me AND an opportunity to help! Booyah!) I have to tell you, this campaign looks absolutely fantastic to me! My LARPing friends know how discerning I am, and indeed that's high praise from me. I only wish that I were in a financial position to crazily fly across the country and play regularly. Such as it is, I hope to make it out there at least a couple times to check it out and hang with my friends. If you're in Georgia, do yourself a favor, and take a look at this campaign. I think it's going to be amazing! Anyway, their races are shaping up to be really interesting. Reading through the packets has been like a trip to an excellent buffet. I get so excited by one dish that I want to stuff my face into it and gorge, and then, look! The next thing is just as wonderful! I want to play this, and this, and one of those! It's probably just as well that I'm not in a position to play regularly since I don't know how I'd ever make the choice of which race to play from so many awesome choices! Lemme quantify this for my LARPer friends who know my tastes really well: I'd even want to play one of their tree people. That's right! You know I love some druid plot! (By which I mean that I outright despise druid plot.) And yet even their race of tree people, the Entgrown, looks totally awesome to me. I'm telling you -- check it out.
Continuing in a veritable streak of geek activity, Ian and I are going to start two table-top roleplaying campaigns this weekend. Tonight we go to start Pathfinder in the Council of Thieves setting with a large group of NERO friends. I may have been talked into playing a bard. Very much looking forward to that tonight! I even made a plate of Million Layer Dip to bring to the game, and I don't make that nearly as often as I should. Tomorrow evening we start a smaller game of Exalted at our friend Tony's place at the other end of our apartment complex.
chinook_wind received her pirate hat in the mail on Thursday! I got a thank you note from her that is ever so nice! I am so happy that I decided to take up that "silly" Facebook meme about handmade gifts. I told her that knitting that hat was really a gift for me since I had such fun with it! When you participate in some art or handcraft, I think particularly something that's meant to be put into everyday use (thank you, Ms. Walker), it's just such a thrill to know it's in the hands (or on the head) of someone who'll really appreciate it and use it often. I'll share photos soon.
I'm still in my pajamas, drinking Coke for breakfast, and I think I'll indulge in some Civ 5 while the laundry's running. I love a lazy weekend morning!
Trace