Saturday 19 May 2007
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Past Events Are Not Indicitive of Future Results
Sorry I have been gone so long. I'm likely to be gone for another month or so. I've had a lot of content which I would have liked to type down, but no time to do so.
This past weekend I was at-con Program Director and at-con Participant Green Room for LepreCon XXXIII. Lea was good enough to take care of the two departments pre-con. This past weekend also saw family from Pennsylvania and New York in town. Oh, and my bicycle was in the shop again.
One thing I found interesting about the convention is how con-com past and present began similar conversations with me. The basic premise between them all is that conventions are attracting smaller numbers because the old guard feels that they've done their share of the difficult work already and the new guard doesn't have anyone willing and/or capable of doing the amount of work that's actually required. I wonder if it's fixable or if you'd have to build a new organization from scratch. The folks at ConEvents did that for local gaming conventions.
I have to admit that I rarely make long term personal goals. For the most part, I'm content with what I have. Currently, my long term plans include paying off my credit cards and deepening my relationships with God and the people in my life. Perhaps that's why I enjoy assisting others in making and realizing their long term goals. When I arrived a few minutes earlier than usual to a friend's house I ran into another friend who was to have left before I was to arrive. The two were discussing the trouble with conventions way back then. As usual, I suggested doing something rather than just lamenting. I've always been a doer than a complainer. It makes me loved and hated in the workplace.
That's how I ended up working conventions at all. I wasn't attending conventions in their heyday, so I didn't know they were broken except through other people. Working the conventions has made me a lot of new acquaintances and friends I would never have made otherwise. It's given me life skills which have proven useful in the workplace, and exposed me to life in ways to lessen my naivety. Has it impoved anything? Minutely. Can I do more? Possibly. It all depends on how much energy I want to divote to the project.
There was once a gaming group that was draining all of my energy. I joined them during a transition period in my life. Everyone was telling me to drop them, but I was seeing the progress I was making with them and kept pushing myself for them. And to this day I do think that I did a lot for them, but I reached a point where I had to decide between my health and them. I ran into a few of them many years later. They had kept the lesson I gave them and even grown a little in the interim. They still need a lot of work, and I occassionally pray for them.
Conventions haven't reached that point. It's true that I don't want to do Program Director every year ad nausium. It's not good for my health, and it's not good for the health of the convention. Doing Program every year would make me reach that point where I'd cut conventions from my life.
I also helped found Tricuspa Figment Live Action Systems in order to help Tricuspa realise his dream. He wanted to run a live action game based around Pokémon. He saw an untapped gaming market: live action games trageting youth and their families. Pokémon Live Action gave children and adults alike something to do at Hexacon for as much or as little as they wanted. He broke a lot of moulds on how live action systems are supposed to be run. However he couldn't do it on his own. Since then we've continued to innovate each year: pushing ourselves and the systems he creates to new levels. It's not my dream, but I enjoy helping him reach his. So far TFLAS is a fun challenge. I'm willing to see where it might go.
Due to conversations with folks at the convention this past weekend, I'm reevaluating my relationships to both concom and TFLAS. How do I help both reach the next level? What can I do, and what is beyond me? Is there a point after which I cannot go? What could such a point be?
Luke Skywalker
You scored 86% wisdom, 15% aggression, 38% power, and 88% morality!Last of the Jedi, you carry heavy burdens and have great potential. Your fighting prowess has only progressed so far, having started your training later in life, but you can hold your own regardless. You have great wisdom and insight beyond your years and experience, and your moral code could not be any stronger. You find the paths no one else can see, and save the galaxy because of it. 
My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: 
You scored higher than 87% on wisdom You scored higher than 0% on aggression You scored higher than 1% on power You scored higher than 91% on morality Link: The Famous Jedi or Sith Test written by SarumantheMad on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test
"Wisdom is not a product of schooling, but of the life-long attempt to aquire it." ~Albert Einstein
Comments (7)
Glad to see you blogging again. I know what you mean about not taking on too much with Cons. I struggle with that. We've got ConCarolina coming up in 2 weeks and I'm running a tournament. First time!
I took the test and got Yoda?
Your Score: Yoda
You scored 62% wisdom, 57% aggression, 69% power, and 58% morality!
One of the most powerful Jedi of all time, you possess the best of all worlds. Your wisdom is vast and unquestioned, and you use it for good. You are an amazingly powerful and skilled fighter, and only use aggressiveness for battle, and only battle when necessary. Lastly, your sense of morality is without peer. You always do what is right, and know that the dark side is hollow and unnatural.
My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:
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<TD vAlign=center>You scored higher than 99% on wisdom
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<TD vAlign=center>You scored higher than 99% on aggression
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<TD vAlign=center>You scored higher than 99% on power
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 border=0>
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<TD vAlign=center>You scored higher than 99% on morality
Welcome back~
Yoda was my results~
One of the most powerful Jedi of all time, you possess the best of all worlds. Your wisdom is vast and unquestioned, and you use it for good. You are an amazingly powerful and skilled fighter, and only use aggressiveness for battle, and only battle when necessary. Lastly, your sense of morality is without peer. You always do what is right, and know that the dark side is hollow and unnatural.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 border=0>
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<TD vAlign=center>You scored higher than 99% on wisdom
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 border=0>
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<TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=0 bgColor=black border=0>
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<TD width=149 bgColor=#399ce3 height=20>
<TD width=1 bgColor=white>
<TD vAlign=center>You scored higher than 99% on aggression
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 border=0>
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<TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=0 bgColor=black border=0>
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<TD width=149 bgColor=#399ce3 height=20>
<TD width=1 bgColor=white>
<TD vAlign=center>You scored higher than 99% on power
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<TD vAlign=center>You scored higher than 99% on morality
Peace bro~
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continue to OkCupid homescreen >
people I should see >
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var testDesc = "Check out this new test written by OkCupid user SarumantheMad and see what you score.";
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RYC: Thank you. I covet your prayers!
I think it's great that you are sponsoring. Conversion is a tremendous shock on many levels. One comes to the realization that what they have been told since knee high has been at best a half truth. You examine your experiences and constantly pray for illumination. It's like finding light at the end of the tunnel though. Blood on his Shield? I just thought that was typical battle damage. IMDB has Cap movie in the works. Rumor has it that Brad Pitt wants to play or will play Captian America
RYC: You are free to rant on my blog.
And I agree. I know my eating habits suck and for the sake of my husband, child and self I need to fix that for all of us.
Paying off credit cards and praying sound like two goals we all ought to have!
See you around Trollhalla!
kewl