Blog Archives - The Land of the Weird

The Land of the Weird

A New DM

9/16/2016

Last week, we stopped by the local hobby shop. It was the third time that I had done so, and I had planned to purchase something rather than just look around. Unfortunately, they hadn't even heard of Carcassonne, let alone have any expansions for it and all of their items seemed to be at list price (meaning I can usually find better deals online). Still, I wanted to be supportive, so I picked up a set adventure for the new edition of D&D. I had an ulterior motive in doing so.

I've been trying to get Trevor more involved with friends his age. I know that he loves D&D, and would like to be a DM at some point in the future. He's read the rule books of the new system more often than I have and seems interested in playing in it. As for me, I am quite happy with my homebrew 3.6 rules and am loathe to change. Thus, I figured that we could use this as an opportunity for Trevor to gather friends and play the game his way.

He seems to like the idea and has been reading through the book I purchased, the rules books, and some online references to get ready. He says that there are a couple of guys interested in playing; he just needs to find a couple more. I am cautiously optimistic that this plan will work. At least so far, he seems to be having fun with the idea.

Guard Dogs

9/15/2016

Today, I took the puppies out at their bell-ringing request only to find both of them extremely skittish the moment I had them on their chains. The neighbor dogs were barking, which often tends to scare our puppies a bit, so I didn't think much of it and let them both back in after they took the quickest pees that they could. It was only then that I saw the young moose come out from the woods around our driveway, peacefully munching a slow path towards our clover hill.

Once inside, the puppies still acted like the moose was going to get them. They continually hid behind my legs as I got dinner ready in the kitchen. When I sat down, they cowered under tables and chairs, even when I thought the moose had left. This continued for quite a while before I noticed that not only had the one moose returned, but another young moose had joined in. The dogs didn't stop hiding until Alex came down.

At least our puppies are cute.

One Year of Exercise

9/14/2016

I received a reminder from Facebook that it was one year ago today that I first started staying after school to get into shape. I can't help but smile at the post that I left as it brought back memories of how seriously painful that first week was for me. At the time, I feared that I would be unable to outrun a zombie, a shambling one at that.

What a difference a year makes! While I gained back a few pounds over the summer, I have lost over twenty pounds in the past year. I feel much healthier, stronger even. I still have a while to go before I hit my target weight (and girth), but I at least think that I now have a fighting chance against those zombies.

Fishing Line

9/13/2016

There is still a lot of work that I need to do to my "den." I have several bookcases, but while a few of the shelves are organized, a lot of the space is either unused entirely or not utilized well. We still have boxes of office stuff, including things that need to be placed in the filing cabinet I found at a garage sale this past summer. I have a few knick-knacks and toys placed here and there, but still boxes of them to choose from for further display.

However, the task that I am most likely to work on soon is hanging up on the ceiling an X-wing, two TIE fighters with Darth Vader's custom TIE in the middle chasing it, and the Millennium Falcon coming from the side. All I need are a couple of hooks in the ceiling and I'll be good to go. Janelle loves me enough that she already found her roll of fishing line and put it on my desk earlier this week, even though she thinks my plan is juvenile.

Who knew that fishing line on a desk could be more romantic than a bouquet of flowers?

Fall

9/12/2016

Okay, so fall isn't technically for a little over a week and a half, but no one has told the trees here that. Janelle has been out picking low cranberries for the past couple of weekends, and fireweed seeds have been blowing through the air for a little while, but today was the first day that I saw leaves on the road as I drove home. Sure, there weren't enough for a car commercial (let alone a good Batmobile drive-by), but it made me notice that a large number of trees have donned their autumn hue.

With the remnants of the cold (and a mild cold euphoria), I've wanted to do little else than curl up with a book and a hot cup of spiced cider since I got home today. Alas, we have no cider, but I was able to read for a bit.

Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

9/11/2016

Today's readings are about second chances, ultimate love, and appreciating what one has. In all of them God shows His devotion to us as He seeks us when we are lost and celebrates when we return to Him.

How often do we celebrate the love that is around us? Do we take the time to appreciate the great things in our lives or are we continually looking towards the future for our happiness? Are we living for the moments to come or looking for the joy in the moments we have?

I've had some joyful moments this weekend. They've included events such as watching my son get to see the first two Harry Potter movies as a reward for reading the books, and then to have him say, "The books are better." I also enjoyed seeing a moose do it's own "grocery shopping" across the road from Fred Meyer. Trevor and I also drove a loop around Kenai and Soldotna so we could see more of the mountains on that particularly clear Saturday. I even managed at actually play the chords F and B7 at church this morning, a first for me.

Posting for Class

9/10/2016

It took me an hour and a half to research and write just one of my posts for my class tonight. I still have another one to write, but I think that will have to wait until tomorrow. The instructor wants us to get in the doctoral habit of supporting all of our claims with documented evidence. My largest concern with this is, as it has been for all such research I've had to do, that this sort of learning suggests that all ideas have already been expressed and that using someone else's words somehow makes your own ideas more powerful. It's like the elite version of the popular group at school. You have to have their support or your opinion isn't worth anything.

Don't get me wrong. I understand the reason behind this. Too often do I see people post unsubstantiated ideas and claims as though they were fact. Still, in a debate about issues in current events, there aren't a lot of scholarly sources available for one side or the other. Worse, since they all have to quote someone else to be considered scholarly in the first place, nearly all of them are quoting the same information.

Oh well, it's not like I didn't know that this was how it was going to be.

It's Friday!

9/9/2016

I cannot remember a Friday that I have been so happy to see appear. I am so amazingly drained from this week that all I wanted was to get to the end of it mostly alive. While I did make it through, there are a number of things left undone that I will need to deal with when I have a better level of concentration and constitution.

Janelle often mocks how much I get affected by colds and flus. She's right; I turn into a slug, both mentally and physically. Upon getting home each day, I've promptly gone to bed for at least an hour, loath to get back out of it. I've been disappointed by the lack of cold euphoria so far, but I've had hints of it today.

Hopefully, this weekend will see me at full strength before the next work week starts.

Common Sense Media

9/8/2016

I've been working to prepare my contribution to the 8th grade health curriculum talking with students about the importance and ways of using the Internet appropriate. Common Sense Media is one of the main sources for the information and lessons I will be using. In looking over their materials, I've noticed that I'm not the best about using the Internet correctly.

Part of it includes these posts. There is a lot of personal information that gets put into them, and I ultimately don't have much control about who might eventually end up seeing it. I am extremely careful about not putting out information that I use for passwords or password protection questions. However, am I flirting too close with danger considering what information I do give?

I also notice that I'm not the best about properly citing items that I find and share. While I have gotten better about researching before I simply pass along information, I should make a greater effort to show the entire line of evidence and give full credit where credit is due.

No one's perfect, but it's always a little disconcerting to teach in an area where I know I fall short myself.

Recovering

9/7/2016

About noon today, I felt my head clear a bit. While I'm still fighting this head cold (and the aches that go with it), I at least feel like I'm back on the mend. Hopefully that means I can work out tomorrow without my head feeling like it's going to explode (I haven't made the attempt these past two days on the off chance that an explosion was possible).

My voice, however, is a bit of a mess at the moment. I tried singing a bit and was shocked at the sounds that came out of my throat. I have a nice, husky speaking voice at the moment, but it doesn't translate to song.

At least my throat isn't sore at the moment.

Cold [post-dated for 9/6/2016]

9/7/2016

I have succumbed to the virus that already attacked a couple of my children, friends, coworkers, and their families. The cold lived up to its name, as I felt chilled the entire day (even wrapped in blankets after I returned home from work). I was too tired yesterday to do anything more than sleep after work. My thoughts were too muddled and sluggish to even write a post. I feel a bit better this morning, although I know I will probably sleep as much as I can this evening.

Reflection

9/5/2016

I've had to do a lot of course reading and writing today, and I grudgingly have to admit that I'm liking the book on critical thinking that I am required to read. Today's section often touched on the importance of taking time to reflect, specifically to reflect on one's own thoughts. In my rush-rush world, I rarely take the time to do this. Even in quiet moments, I tend to fill the time with reading, games (thanks, Bj, for my Noodle addiction), or television. I had read an article earlier this year about the power of boredom and how the lack of boredom is negatively impacting children's lives and education. It seems that we need that boredom to give us a time to sort and organize our thoughts.

I'll have to think about this some more.

Guitar Playing

9/4/2016

A tiny blister sits on the tip of the ring finger of my right hand. It stands in silent, if annoying, testament to my lack of practice with the guitar. It turns out that having not played for a few months, and then suddenly practicing and playing for several hours can really wear on my unprepared fingertips.

I truly felt the lack of practice today while performing during today's mass. I started the alleluia so poorly that I apologized and started over. I misjudged the length of the communion line, starting up a second song that I had in reserve. And I messed up the strum pattern on the last song, making it sound like I was rushing the priest out of the door (well, mass had gone over an hour).

Most everyone was still quite kind, thanking me for playing the guitar. One of the parishioners said that my playing was better than nothing, and then stuttered to say that she meant it was better than having no accompaniment. When I smiled at that, she blushed and said that I did great.

When filling my gas tank later, one of my former students was with his family, also getting gas. He stuck his head out of the window and said, "You messed up some of the music today." I replied, "I know. I messed it up hard."

When playing the guitar, I'm keenly aware at how limited my ability is. The music I pull out is full of pencilled in markings that remove chords I still can't play and replacing them with chords that only kind of sound right. For that reason, most of the songs I pick tend to have similar melodies, or at least keys.

Still, I enjoy playing. I'm glad that I've been pressured into doing it. However, I would like to know how to play better. It's more than simply needing more practice; there are a number of skills that I simply don't understand.

I certainly do need to practice more this week. I'm playing at next week's mass too.

Books

9/3/2016

I feel nothing but pity for those who don't love to read. I'm deeply saddened any time that I think about the gift that they deprive themselves. To me, it's like choosing to walk around the world with one's eyes shut or ears stoppered.

Entering into the world of a well-written story is one of my life's greatest joys. I often immerse myself so fully that the author's words can leave ghost-like memories in my waking day. For a while, I can blend with the lives and thoughts of these fictional characters, something even sharing their ambitions and desires.

There are times, even, when the reality of the world I am reading seems more real than the world around me. I always find myself momentarily disoriented when I put a book down before I am ready to do so. It takes me a moment to sort out my own priorities.

This is one of the reasons that, when a story gets quite intense, I often skip ahead or turn to the back of the book to make certain the character I'm following makes it out, or at least so I know the outcome. While there are plenty of people who snub such a practice, I find it easier to commit myself fully to the story. If what I find is not pleasant, I'm more easily able to shield myself from the emotional trauma.

While there have been a few video games that have come close to this kind of experience for me (e.g. The Last of Us), no other media has been able to deliver the same effect. I wish I could get more of my students to experience this wondrous gift.