Expedition to Undermountain sounds like a great sourcebook.  I enjoyed playing through Undermountain in Mike's campaign.  I'd be curious to compare the Undermountain 2.0 boxed sets versus this 3.5 hardback. 

The Internet is an everchanging landscape.  Yahoo! Photos just recently upgraded to a much improved system.  So of course, shortly there after they announce that they will be shutting down.  Flickr (also Yahoo! owned) will be their sole photo storage system.  Rather silly, but they were probably working on those upgrades before the bigwigs made the decision.  I wonder if they'll combine their separate blog services eventually, too. 

Even sillier is that the FAQ claims:

Select from among the photo sharing services offered (Flickr, Kodak Gallery, Shutterfly, Snapfish, and Photobucket) and they will move the photos for you. You’ll need to verify your Yahoo! account information and either create a new account or login with an existing account at that other service, but beyond that they’ll take care of the rest.

Thanks to Alluveal for the quiz:

"Kindness is the noblest weapon to conquer with." ~Unknown

Ancient_Scribe discusses the balance between logic and reason versus imagination and emotion in regards to faith.

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.

"Wisdom is not a product of schooling, but of the life-long attempt to aquire it." ~Albert Einstein

The 1998 Good Friday accords are finally seeing fruition.

The rest of the week I was bus bound, with an ACE bandage for support.  As my parish is nowhere near a busline, I wasn't going to be able to get to Holy Thursday events without walking over a mile from a bus stop, and then I'd have to walk almost five miles home as bus service would have been over by the time I would have left.  I knew that my knee was not up to that.

By the time Holy Saturday rolled around it was time to head to the Easter Vigil at St. Theresa Parish.  My mother picked me up from work and we headed over.  John and Matt, seminarians I grew up with in Life Teen, were home for Easter.  In fact, John is now a deacon, soon to be a full priest!  How exciting.  John did his first baptisms, and boy did he have a lot to do!  This was one of the most full Easter Vigils in a long time, with the baptised and those being confirmed filling from one door of the church to almost the other.  That also meant that mass ended close to 23:00, so not everyone stayed for the whole thing.  Dave and Patty were there, and Dave finally was confirmed.  He had gone through various confirmation classes over the years, but they always moved before he could complete it.  I was so proud of him for completing his journey.  

Father Mike gave a wonderful homily.  Afterward I had a chance to talk privately with John, Matt, Dave, and Patty, as well as enjoy a full meal of snacks including wraps, cheese cubes, fruit, vegetables, cake, and lemonade. 

Once it got late my mother took me back to their place where I crashed in the spare room.  Before going to bed I gave my stepfather his birthday card and gift, for which he was grateful.  In the morning, Mom made breakfast for everyone and had us search for Easter baskets (actually paper bags with our names on them).  Afterwards, we went over to my grandparents to help cook dinner (ham and cabbage, mashed potatoes, baby carrots, apple sauce, and cranberry juice cocktail).  After dinner, we played some games (Yahtzee, Uno, and Rack-o), chatted or napped, and swung on the porch.  Then it was time to go home and prepare for work the next day.

So, I hear this story on the radio about a man walking 1000 miles to prove his love for a woman after they broke up.  The newscaster says that she polled the women in the office, and they all thought that jewelry would have worked just as well.  Isn't that sad?  They're admitting, to the whole of their wide listening office, that their love can be bought with material things.  Is that really love then?  No wonder the state of our society is the way it is.  I feel compelled to pray, not just for these shallow news people, but for all such people who are in relationships for all the wrong reasons.

Even sadder was the co-anchor, Connie Weber's response.  She said that jewelry would have been better!  Of course, I'm not surprised.  She treats her co-anchor Ned Foster like dirt.  A lot of times, he can send the zingers back, but other times she'll go so far the other news people are shocked and Ned will have to tell her to stop.  So is it any wonder that later in the same newscast Connie says that she's like to thank her husband for putting up with her nagging for ten years.  She then goes on to comment that the thing she remembers from thier wedding ten years ago today was that she cried all day because it was snowing, ruining it (somehow).  So I guess I'll be making a special intention for her and her husband whiling I'm praying each day for the shallow people.

You Should Be an Actor

You have a flair for the dramatic, and you probably already do a lot of acting in your day to day life, just to entertain yourself. No need to steal the spotlight from your friends... You'll get plenty of attention once you start acting professionally!

Israelis abruptly cancel Vatican negotiating session

"trollgod's site has been shut down by its owner..."  Wow.  It used to be labeled:

But I guess he's moved on.  He'd indicated in many posts that he was not likely to keep it updated all of the time, or that he might just give it up completely.  And to think that he once offered Trollhallans a chance to earn TVP for having a Xanga.  He still exists in part at Y!360, so I guess that's something.

On St. Patrick's Day Bill and I went to the Arizona Renaissance Festival and Artisans' Marketplace for the Pleasure Feast.  They went all out, decorating the Feast Hall for St. Patrick's Day, offering green beer as one of their beverage options, having Rook dress up as a leprechaun for one bit, and offering an Irish toast with the parting toasts.  The servers were awesome about giving extra portions when you asked, as I always tell people.  Both Bill and Wayne are hesitant to ask, then they are disappointed that they didn't get what they wanted.  It's a busy feast hall.  There's no room for hestitation.  You need to ask the server as soon as they begin to turn towards you.  You can't wait until they've served you.  They're already moving onto the next person. 

Speaking of not getting a chance to do something, I'm stuck with birthday cards for Jayson and Rusty.  I purchased my March and April birthday and anniversary cards back on the 24th of February.  Then the weekends I expected to see each of them were cancelled.  It kind of feels like a waste of money.  Oh well, things don't always go our way.

I've accomplished some spring cleaning last Tuesday and today.  I could still use a lot more time on it.  I'm also catching up on emails and the like.  Sundays are spent with my grandparents, so Tuesdays are the only real day for myself.  So, of course, everyone and their mother wants to steal that time away from me.  I guess I can't blame them, as much as it might annoy me.  I have to go to the Body Worlds 3 exhibit one of the Tuesdays this month before my promotional pass expires.  It's not valid weekends between 12-4pm and all days after 5:45pm, leaving me Tuesdays sometime during the day.  Perhaps in two weeks. 

You Communicate With Your Ears

You love conversations, both as a listener and a talker. What people say is important to you, and you're often most affected by words, not actions. You love to hear complements from others. And when you're upset, you often talk to yourself. Music is very important to you. It's difficult to find you without your iPod.

"I never saw a pessimistic general win a battle." ~ Dwight D. Eisenhower

The Children of Hurin by J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien, and Alan Lee was brought to my attention by Ealnaatha Vaelmarrri .  I'm rather looking forward to it.  We might already know the story from The Silmarillion, but I've never had a problem with novels that reexamine the same story in a different or more expanded way.  Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern and Nerilka's Story being one kind of example, with The Horse and His Boy, The Silver Chair, and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe being another kind of example. 

I have weeks to recap, so I'm likely to forget most of it.  Trollgod invited me to stop by the Hallowed Halls of Literature to pick up my Naked Doom Wacky Racers certificate.  It's rather cool, with an image of Muttley doing his famous laugh.  Of course I left work later than I would have liked, and even passed a car fire on the way to the Halls.  However, the Trollgod was kind enough to guide me through the shelves, and even pointed out one of the newest items in the collection:  the Tarzan / Carson of Venus collected graphic novel.  I just finished it today.  It was rather good.  I don't know that I would have bought the series or the collected novel, but it was definately worthwhile to read and encourage others to read.  I probably would buy A Tale of Mugambi, a one-shot also included in the collection.  In addition to the Wacky Racers certificate, I received a second copy of The Troll Brothers Gruff:  A Trollish Fable (a favourite that I'll be sure to share) and a copy of Oath of Swords.  Way cool, it includes a troll-like race called the hradani.  Thank the Trollgod for his abundant generocity!

Wayne explained to me that he almost called to tell us that he was bringing Eric to MLJ's memorial dinner, but opted against it for a very specific reason.  Michael was a big proponent of inviting people along, and not worrying about where individuals clashed.  He never wanted to see people left behind just because someone thought they didn't belong.  So when Eric wanted to go to dinner that night, Wayne just invited him along.  He saw it as beneficial to everyone, Eric could still go out to dinner with Wayne, Wayne wouldn't have to ride the bus over, and Monte wouldn't have to give Wayne a ride back.  It's all very logical.  He's a lot gutsier than me.  Despite the fact that Michael was like that, I still would have asked permission.  I was just brought up differently than they were.

Speaking of being brought up differently, Monte had us watch Team America:  World Police.  He always wants to be the one to bring the movies for us to watch, and he rails against us providing movies.  Yet he provides us movies with foul language, nudity, et cetera.  Or he goes to the opposite extreme and provides us with cartoons.  He's like so many in his generation and younger, bound and determined to make the offensive so commonplace that we'll become inured to it all.  I have coworkers that purposefully use foul or uncomfortable language around me for the same reasoning. 

My grandmother has since gone back home.  Her collarbone has a two inch gap, which they say might be fixed with surgery.  She's not willing to undergo further surgery, as she feels that the mastectomy didn't stop her development of bone cancer.  My uncle visisted from NY for several days, and helped my grandfather get the house ready for her.  She now has various medications and physical therapies in her home.  She has her better days and her worse days. 

Last week, Cave Creek Road had restricted traffic from 7pm-5am while filming was going on for the upcoming motion picture "Kids in America" between 7:30pm-4:30am, plus road set up and take down.  The filming was occurring in the wash between Just Brakes and Rental Services Corporation.  The wash used to be home to a large transient camp.  That camp isn't there anymore, obviously.  The story must feature a rather busy Labour Day weekend, as they were filming around a stock police car one night as I passed by.  I'll have to check out the film, despite it not being one I'd normal express any interest in, just to see if I can spot that scene and any others set along my commute. 

I have a lot more, but I have a lot of other things to do today.  Maybe I'll post again soon.

I know a lot of people take a look at my hair, mustache, and beard and assume I must be a hippy.  Hah!  I couldn't further from one.  And for those that never believe me, take a look at this quiz:

"The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four Americans is suffering from some form of mental illness. Think of your three best friends. If they're okay, then it's you." ~ Rita Mae Brown

"There'll always be sexual tension between male and female friends; we're animals, after all, wired to accept each other on a sexual level at all times." ~ former Dawson's Creek co-star Joshua Jackson, to the London Observer
This totally explains why people in Hollywood always end up dating and/or marrying their coworkers. 

This is cool.  I discovered how to set a background colour for my text using html instead of using the Highlighter tool.  I know, I'm easily impressed.

Friday The Repugnant once again earned it's nickname.  A story about Rocky Horror now playing in Chandler was the fold story on B1 while a story about our governor meeting with the president of Afganistan was buried on B6.  Guess which story was shorter, too.  B (or Valley and State) is the local news section of The Repugnant.  Shouldn't the governor meeting with a foreign president be front page news?  Even if it couldn't make A1, it ought to make B1.  What a sad state of affairs.

After mass on Sunday I saw a brochure in the pew by Bishop Olmstead and started to flip through it.  I probably would have taken it with me had I not been distracted.  A lady I recognize as being a regular mass attendee approached me somewhat hesitantly.  She complimented my lectoring ability (ironically the week between lectoring weekends), and said that I appeared to be more serious about it than many of the others.  I really appreciated the compliment.  She then hesitantly gave me a photocopied advertisement for Our Lady of the Roses Shrine.  She asked that I check it out, that it should help my faith journey.  I was touched that she would share with me something which had so obviously touched her. 

Thanks to jada_marnew for the quiz:

Your Brain is Green

Of all the brain types, yours has the most balance. You are able to see all sides to most problems and are a good problem solver. You need time to work out your thoughts, but you don't get stuck in bad thinking patterns. You tend to spend a lot of time thinking about the future, philosophy, and relationships (both personal and intellectual).

Ever notice how critics love to mislead and misinform?  This review of 300 is a great example.  The reviewer starts by claiming that 300 is a remake of a previous movie.  It's only much later in the article that he finally admits that the film is actually based on a Frank Miller comic book miniseries.  That stuff really annoys me.

I noticed that for some reason Friday's entry was listed as Private for some reason.  I don't do Private entries, and that one was certainly never intended for Protected.  I wonder how I did that.  Oh well, it's fixed now. 

Thursday was the 3rd anniversary of Mike's passing.  Kitty and Travis set up a memorial dinner at Bill Johnson's Big Apple.  I was asked if anyone else should be invited.  I thought of a few people, but the only one that I stay in regular contact with and that lives locally still was Wayne.  I was worried that he might bring up his Shadowfist thing with Trav, but I also knew that he'd be hurt if we had a memorial and didn't invite him.  Rusty OKed it, but weren't we all surprised when we showed up Saturday evening and Wayne had Eric with him.  Eric never even met Mike.  Luckily, no one made a scene over it all.  It was good to see everybody again, and it was nice to remember our great friend.  We all shared a funny memory of Mike, except Travis who begged to have more time to think of something.

Afterward, Monte needed a computer file from Rusty.  We stayed up way too late trying to get him a copy and still never got one for him.  I slept in rather late the next morning, and arrived rather late to visit my grandmother in the care center.  She was happy to see me, but I could tell that she was drugged somewhat.  After visiting with her I rode over to mass.  Fr. Milt gave the homily, and afterward he was kind enough to bless a new rosary for my grandmother.  My mother had wanted to purchase the large wooden rosary last week, but the gift shop was closed.  It was open this week, so I picked it up for her. 

We gave it to my grandmother today, who was quite pleased.  The rosary's big beads will be easy for her now that she can't use her left hand and has to use her off-hand for everything.  She was also pleased that Father Milton had blessed it for her.  My grandmother was in much better health and spirits today when I saw her.  She was able to do 50 steps before sitting down, and did 4 such sets today.  She also had all of the tubes out of her and was wearing her own clothes.  She sounded like she was going to do everything within her power to escape as soon as possible.  Unfortunately, the doorways in her home are probably too small for her with her new cane and knitting bones.  I guess we all have a few days to figure it all out.

After that my mother, stepfather, and I met at my parish to enjoy a Christian Seder meal.  That was a really great experience.  I'd always missed previous Christian Seders at my parish because they're always held on weekdays.  They do a bit of education mixed with the meal.  There were families of all ages, and everyone seemed to learn and have a great time.  The food was excellent.  I definately would love to do it again next year.

Thanks to jada_marnew for the quiz:

You Are: 50% Dog, 50% Cat

You are a nice blend of cat and dog. You're playful but not too needy. And you're friendly but careful. And while you have your moody moments, you're too happy to stay upset for long.

I was all psyched to go through with my plan.  Debbie and Sheila had both given me the green light.  The day of the festival arrived, and I was still all psyched.  Then, just before the roving flower salespeople walked by Bill had to go and ruin everything for me.

Oh, he didn't mean to do so.  Don't get me wrong.  He was actually doing what he thought was right for me, and so I can't really be upset with him.  That's just his nature.  He was pushing for me to court Twig at the festival, and when I balked at it he then tried pushing Lisa and I together.  That just annoyed the hell out of both of us.  So, from that point on, anything I was going to do became tainted by his actions and I had to back off of my plan. 

Of course, once the ladies had pushed us away, he was right back at it again.  Pushing me to attempt to court Twig, despite the fact that her faire personae would obviously be only a little like her real self.  Despite the fact that it would be inappropriate.  Despite the fact that I'm not interested. 

I like fae.  Franjean and Rool were my favourite characters in Willow.  I like to play fae characters in FRPGs, such as Amrak the windling illusionist in Rusty's Earthdawn campaign.  I had Flower Faerie checks before my current set of Path to the Dark Side checks.  Many of the art pieces I have purchased at conventions have been fae.  So, of course, when I saw Twig I was floored.  She does an amazing job at her role.  I love to just watch her.  It's awesome.  But that's it.  I'm not interested in her romantically.  In fact, I think that would ruin some of the charm of her character.  Sure, I wouldn't turn down the chance to get to know her as a real person, but it would have to be outside of the context of the festival.  So that's a likelihood that's minimal at best.  And I'm fine with that.  We can't befriend the world.

He's talking of hooking me up with some tall woman that he knows.  Hello, I'm not interested in hook ups!  If he pushes it, perhaps I'll meet her.  It can't hurt to meet someone.  Perhaps I'll make a new friend, perhaps not. 

I rarely find myself emotionally interested in people.  I can count the number of them for my whole life so far on one hand.  So, I'm not likely to let myself have any rest until I exhaust all possibilities with Lisa. 

When the guys and the ladies had regrouped, and we headed for home, I discovered that Lisa had taken Bill's comments as flirtation with her.  I had taken it differently, that he was trying to push the two of us together.  Either way, it certainly hasn't endeared him to her.  It wasn't a complete wash, as Lisa encouraged me to give her a call.  Previously, I had only been invited to email her.

Life can seem so complicated, when it really is not. 

The Shoemaker and the Brownies is probably what inspired Hermione to create S.P.E.W.

Our parish always sends us little gift booklets at the start of each Advent and Lent.  This Lent we recieved Lent 2007: A Time for Mending: Daily Scripture Meditations and Prayers.  The entry from Thursday After Ash Wednesday reads, "Imagine a life where we can peel away our many disguises and let the world see us as we truly are:  vulnerable, valuable, hurting, hoping, dreaming, believing, yearning for love and acceptance.  Finally, we can be honest about our shortcomings, transparent in our motives, and genuine in our love."  That totally sums up why I switched from a hard drive journal to a web journal. 

Then the entry for Sunday of the First Week reads, "When you're in the midst of troublesome times, write down your wake-up calls in a journal.  What truths are they telling you about yourself?  How are they renewing and reviving your spirit?"  Awesome blogging material to be sure.  Hopefully I have done and will continue to do as such.

If they have the fish in stock, why not offer it as a fish bowl?  Because KFC doesn't want my money, that's why.  Silly KFC.  Why turn down good $US?

Saturday night after work I stopped by Metrocenter to pick up some February and March cards from The Card Shoppe.  Afterwards, I dropped by Game Nightz to find out why they never called me back last year.  The owner's lame excuse:  he wasn't able to find a distributor which carries Shadowfist, so he had no reason to call me back.  Lame.  He couldn't be bothered to call and tell me even that?  He obviously doesn't want my business.  He and the people at KFC must have gone to the same school for bad buisness. 

So, I told him that Shadowfist Games sells direct, but that if he needed a distributor that he should try Potomac.  He was so obviously disinterested, he didn't even bother to write anything down.  I've offered to run demos in his store, but he claims that there's no room in his schedule.  That night there was no one in the gaming area, but he still turned down Shadowfist demos in his store.  I bought Shadowfist from him when he was still an employee of Game Daze.  I just don't see his current resistance.

What Your Bathroom Habits Say About You

You are a very considerate person, but that doesn't mean you let people walk all over you. Your idea of fashion is jeans and a t-shirt. Clean, if you're lucky. You are a little shy and easily embarrassed. You often wonder if you are normal. In relationships, you are practical and realistic. You have a romantic side, but you only let it out when it's appropriate.

"There is plenty of room at the top, but no place to sit down." ~Unknown