drcpunk's Journal

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Accidental Butter and Lamp Splints

mnemex made whipped cream for the July 4th party we went to. Some of it liquified and then congealed so that it is now butter. Yep, we've got accidental butter.

Meanwhile, I asked if we could reinforce the taped lamp. mnemex said we needed sticks. We took 3 plastic chopsticks and taped them to the lamp. Yep, we have constructed a splint for a lamp.

That Which Was Not At Origins
Out or Almost Out, Sort Of?

Dark Aeons (available via Amazon and Lulu)

HeroQuest 2nd edition (hitting stores in July?): I called the Strategist, and the folks there had no idea what I was talking about. After all, HeroQuest (1st ed) wasn't being sold anymore.

womzilla assured me that this ignorance was not the store's fault. It seems that the various companies that have sold HeroQuest / HeroWars / pre-Mongoose RuneQuest aren't always good about letting the local stores know what's new. So, I walked into the Strat to let the staff know. They figure that, eventually, the company will tell them about the new edition, and then they'll get some.

Unhallowed Necropolis -- I went to the company's 'blog and asked where I could get this one. A copy is theoretically shambling towards me even as I type this.

Delta Green: Targets of Opportunity (already paid for, actually, just not out yet)

Lovecraftian Tales from the Table DVD: Chaosium now carries this, so I figure that Adventure Retail is likely to.

Not Yet Done

1st Quest
Dresden Files RPG
Misery Bubblegum -- well, I hope to play at least one session of this at DexCon

Decent Day
I did have lots of aching today, which is something I want to keep track of to see if there's a pattern. I still need to talk to my GP about that. I need to remember that even though this is not constant, I still need to be proactive and all that jazz. Fr'ex, some weeks back, I walked a few blocks, in the heat, with backpack and food bags, and, while I was exhausted and sweaty at the end, I was not in pain. This is very good, but if there's something that can be done to not be in pain with this, I should find out what it is.

That aside, I was fairly productive. I returned books to the library. I couldn't settle the fine, as the computers were being weird. When I looked up things on line, I saw that I owed $1.50, which sounds correct. The computer told the guy behind the desk first that I owed half that, and then that I owed nothing. He suggested I deal with the fine, or lack of same, some other day, like, say, when it wasn't the first day after a 3 day holiday for the library, with everyone showing up 15 minutes before closing to return / renew / check out stuff.

I did my laundry. Yay, laundry! Best footrest ever for long typing stints!

I did food shopping for DexCon.

I treated myself to sushi, plum wine, and delicious desserts at Nori, with

mnemex showing up to help out.

Okay, I also knocked over a lamp, breaking the metal tube that holds the things that hold the bulbs. It's still working, and mnemex taped it up, after boggling.

"I knock stuff over all the time, and it doesn't break!" he said.

Time to look into new lamps. I'm not sure if I want the typical halogen with dimmer switch or if I want bulbs on a stick. The halogen has distinct advantages.

I've finished reading Ken Hite's Adventures Into Darkness, which is indeed very geeky. It's an alternate world's rpg -- a world where H. P. Lovecraft wrote comics.

So, I found this passage on page 9:

Ace Buckley also helped the magician-scientist Roger Bacon defeat Professor Fenton in a memorable tale in Adventures Into Darkness #63 that some fans believe was actually scripted by Alfred Bester.

Okay, what does it say about me that I instantly thought, "Bester? Sounds more like James Blish."

Hugo Voting
Thanks to modern technology and the efforts of people to make material available online, for the first ever, I have been able to vote for Best Short Story. I am of the opinion that one really must be familiar with all the entries in a category to vote.

Usually, if I meet my own standards in any category, it's Best Dramatic Presentation (Long). That probably won't happen this year. But I got to vote on Best Short Story!

I think I read all of them aloud to myself. I did this with the first one, so I had to do it for all the rest. Predictably, I think my first choice blows the others out of the water.

Ah, I Am Too Clever
Having pruned the shelves, I'd like to put the new stuff on the shelves. I've got a spreadsheet for books and another one for rpgs, and everything's listed. Discards stay in, noted as such, so I don't repurchase them by accident.

And I invented a cute location code on the fly last August. Cute and clever. Now, of course, I'm painstakingly deciphering it to figure out what the heck I meant. And, wincing as I do, since, really, it should go bookcase number, then shelf number, then location on the shelf. Currently, it's shelf, location on shelf, then bookcase number. This is not ideal.

Pruning Shelves

mnemex helped me begin to prune my shelves. Mostly, I said, "Do I need X?" and he said, "No." But, this made a lot of difference. He thinks I've cleared enough space to fit in at least half of the more recent acquisitions.

In any case, the following are currently in the Out Pile. If anyone's interested in them, let me know.

( The List )

Okay, now where did I put the nail?
At Dreamation, a woman was looking for a certain rpg splatbook. I thought I might have a copy, so I took her email address.

I have finally found the item she was looking for. Naturally, I now have no idea where I put the slip of paper with her contact information.

Home
We are home. It was a lovely convention, and I am feeling good.

Reality, part sixteen
Plane is on the ground, heading to the gate. After we deplane and get luggage, time to make our way from Newark to home.

Reality, part fifteen
We are on our plane now, a bit after 9 pm. It is empty enough they are moving folks to distribute weight.

Reality, part thirteen
"Swords of Mars" (FATE system) was a blast. I actually got to every single one of my events, and I played an extra game, learning Blitz.

I totally flubbed my "Remember to wake

mnemex" roll 2 ways. He's awake and in the dealers' room now, I think, and I plan to head there.

Reality, part eleven
Quoted from current game, "Funkathlhu", the most tasteless, offensive, and sickly hilarious game I've yet played, this con and possibly ever:

Player: It's odd playing Call of Cthulhu, and two hours in, the only one losing SAN is the GM.

And:

GM: Before we venture too far into the history of racial slurs...

[Context on that: We were talking OOC, trying to figure out if the various terms we were hurling in character would actually have been used in the 1970s.]

Reality, part nine
The larp was lots of fun, and I have pictures I need to post.

Reality, part eight
The auction store was closed when I arrived, due to reopen in half an hour. I need the sleep more than a second pass. I gather there was a misplaced or taken computer in the auction this morning which caused some confusion, but I heard this second hand. I hope it was cleared up, whatever it was.

Reality, part seven
I made the Panty Explosion game, which woke me right up. Hard to say which was more nasty, in a good way, that or the 11 pm Call of Cthulhu last night.

I did a quick once over in the dealers' room, confirming I didn't miss anything on my list, then went to North Market. I came back with Indian food and a 3 scoop cup of ice cream -- dark chocolate, salty and sweet pistachio and honey, and something with Thai spices, it was about a third melted when I dug in, but this worked, and the three flavors complimented each other astoundingly well.

I plan to check out the auction store, then take a nap and a shower. The larp I am in has supposedly moved to a room in the hotel we're staying in, which is quite convenient.

That Which Is Not There
Things I Would Like To Buy, But Which Are Not For Sale At Origins

Out or Almost Out, Sort Of?

Dark Aeons (available via Amazon and Lulu)
HeroQuest 2nd edition (hitting stores in July?)
Unhallowed Necropolis (I think this is out in pdf, but I don't know about hard copy)
Delta Green: Targets of Opportunity (already paid for, actually, just not out yet)
Lovecraftian Tales from the Table DVD (shipping from the UK is high, so trying to get them and Adventure Retail in communication, which both willing to do)

Not Yet Done

1st Quest
Dresden Files RPG
Misery Bubblegum

Reality, part five
I crawled out to grab clothes, food, full backpack, and empty suitcase, and got to "The Sword of Joan of Arc", which was a blast. I then proceeded to fill the suitcase at the auction store and dealers' room. I got

daftnewt the monograph he wanted, and passed on

womzilla's hug to Zev at Z-Man. He said he'd gotten one from

mnemex, but was happy to collect another.

I picked up

princeofcairo's latest books, several monographs, Lucha Libre Hero, and one of the 6 copies of Damnation View for CthulhuTech available today, getting a quick system overview from the author and a teaser for future products.

Then, I grabbed some stuff from the food court, dropped the loot off in my room, and headed back to the convention center, where I expect to be in 2 back to back CoC games.