Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in diggory1's LiveJournal:

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Friday, April 24th, 2020
4:40 pm	Looking for my 101 tasks list? If you're looking for our 101 tasks in 1001 days list, check it out over here: http://101challengesin1001days.blogspot.com/ Well, what are you waiting for? Go look at it, dammit! (Comment on this)
Thursday, March 20th, 2008
10:50 am	I'm so not surprised. Law's Game Style created with QuizFarm.com You scored as Storyteller You're more inclined toward the role playing side of the equation and less interested in numbers or experience points. You're quick to compromise if you can help move the story forward, and get bored when the game slows down for a long planning session. You want to play out a story that moves like it's orchestrated by a skilled novelist or film director. Storyteller 83% Tactician 42% Specialist 42% Casual Gamer 33% Power Gamer 33% Method Actor 33% Butt-Kicker 8% (Comment on this)
Thursday, February 21st, 2008
4:02 pm	Year in the life meme If you want to play, leave the year of your birth as a comment and I'll give you a year to discuss. hess42 gave me 1996. Actually hess42 gave me 1996 way back on February 7th, and I was pretty busy at that point, 2 weeks ago, so I figured I'd wait until I had some time to reflect on 1996. Since now and then, I've done some reflecting, and recalled a very few highlights. 1995 and 1997 are definitely more memorable, so I figured it was time to crack out my scrapbook from that era and see just what was going on that I missed. Those of you who know I scrapbook & have seen said scrapbooks know that I own, gosh, 5 huge albums that span the era of 1970-2000. So that comes out to something like 300 pages. Mathematically, each year should have about 10 pages, on average. So, I found 1992 and worked my way forward. Guess what? 1996 has a single page, about my rubberstamping obsession. I mean, I was seriously into rubberstamping, but it did not encompass my entire year. Other things were going on, I am quite sure of that. It's like a huge void in my life. There was another page in 1996, which was about my parents' vacation to Mexico. By flipping forward to 1997, which I have said is quite memorable, I read a few notes that help to jog my memory about why 1996 is so bare. 1996 was the year I taught reading and study skills classes to college students at the U of I 3 days a week, worked 2 days a week at Pastoral Care and Counseling, worked 3 days a week at Clark Dietz Inc, took classes full time at the U of I, and worked frantically, late into the night to get my research data collected, entered, and analyzed. The rubberstamping only made center stage in the scrapbook because I actually attended a convention with other rubberstamping fans. The other past time I vaguely recall engaging in was Heroes of Might and Magic, a break for eyes tired of looking at strings of numbers. I think this may have been the summer I was desperate enough for cash I tried to supervise a corn detasseling crew at 3:30 am. I say "tried," because after 3 mornings of it, then proceeding forward with the rest of my obligations, I was so sore and stiff, I couldn't even get my arms to bend far enough to fasten my bra, and I said there was no way I was that desperate for cash. 1996 may also have been the year I cut my toe on a mysterious shard of glass in my white dress shoes & spent an hour with a sterilized sewing needle digging it out of my left big toe, rather than go to the emergency room and wrack up a medical bill I could not afford. Like I said, I'm making guesses on the last bits, because I don't have it documented, but I'm fairly confident it didn't happen in 1997 or 1995 ... and I know I lived on Church Street for both of those incidents. Oh, and that reminds me ... I think 1996 was the year that Theo, my rat, died. Yeah, there are lots of reasons why 1996 didn't get much press in my scrapbooks! Current Mood: contemplative Current Music: electronica (Comment on this)
Friday, February 15th, 2008
10:57 pm	Me? Green...hm, okay. What's Your Political Philosophy? created with QuizFarm.com You scored as Green The Green Party believes in an America where decisions are made by the people and not by a few giant corporations. Their environmental goal is a sustainable world where nature and human society co-exist in harmony. Green 75% New Democrat 70% Libertarian 65% Old School Democrat 60% Pro Business Republican 50% Foreign Policy Hawk 25% Socially Conservative Republican 20% (Comment on this)
Wednesday, January 9th, 2008
8:00 pm	Because I just couldn't resist taking the test... Susanne, your IQ score is 131 Your overall intelligence quotient is the result of a scientifically-tested formula based on how many questions you answered correctly. But it's only part of what we learned about you from your answers on the test. We also determined the way you process information. The way you think about things makes you an Intuitive Investigator. This means you have multiple talents and can do anything you set your mind to. You're able to detect numerical patterns easily and are able to grasp the true complexity of the world, both in its details and in a more abstract form. You've got a sharp logical mind and are adept at using words to get even a difficult point across. The combination of all these things makes you truly brilliant. How did we determine that your thinking style is that of an Intuitive Investigator? When we examined your test results further, we analyzed how you scored on 8 dimensions of intelligence: spatial, organizational, abstract reasoning, logical, mechanical, verbal, visual and numerical. The 3 dimensions you scored highest on combine to make you an Intuitive Investigator. Only 6 out of 1,000 people have this rare combination of abilities. (Comment on this)
Saturday, December 22nd, 2007
6:00 pm	I Am A: Neutral Good Human Sorcerer (6th Level) Ability Scores: Strength-14 Dexterity-11 Constitution-14 Intelligence-16 Wisdom-15 Charisma-17 Alignment: Neutral Good A neutral good character does the best that a good person can do. He is devoted to helping others. He works with kings and magistrates but does not feel beholden to them. Neutral good is the best alignment you can be because it means doing what is good without bias for or against order. However, neutral good can be a dangerous alignment because because it advances mediocrity by limiting the actions of the truly capable. Race: Humans are the most adaptable of the common races. Short generations and a penchant for migration and conquest have made them physically diverse as well. Humans are often unorthodox in their dress, sporting unusual hairstyles, fanciful clothes, tattoos, and the like. Class: Sorcerers are arcane spellcasters who manipulate magic energy with imagination and talent rather than studious discipline. They have no books, no mentors, no theories just raw power that they direct at will. Sorcerers know fewer spells than wizards do and acquire them more slowly, but they can cast individual spells more often and have no need to prepare their incantations ahead of time. Also unlike wizards, sorcerers cannot specialize in a school of magic. Since sorcerers gain their powers without undergoing the years of rigorous study that wizards go through, they have more time to learn fighting skills and are proficient with simple weapons. Charisma is very important for sorcerers; the higher their value in this ability, the higher the spell level they can cast. Find out What Kind of Dungeons and Dragons Character Would You Be?, courtesy of Easydamus (e-mail) Current Mood: pleased (Comment on this)
Wednesday, December 19th, 2007
10:29 pm	Monkeys. *shaking fist at sky* Dammit. It won't embed the media. Dammit! Go here: http://dotsub.com/films/dancemonkeys/index.php?autostart=true&language_setting=none_404 Current Mood: contemplative (Comment on this)
10:28 pm	Monkeys. Current Mood: contemplative (Comment on this)
10:24 pm	Monkeys. Current Mood: contemplative (Comment on this)
Wednesday, September 26th, 2007
9:15 pm	Redundant Redundancies • “False pretense” If pretense is “the act of alleging falsely,” as Dictionary.com asserts, then wouldn’t a false pretense be … true? • “Advance warning” A warning delivered after the fact is known, I believe, as “Monday morning quarterbacking.” • “Convicted felon” If we’re guilty until proven innocent, there shouldn’t be too many convictionless felons running around. • “Surviving widow” Kallan defines it thusly: “The last woman standing in an all-widow game of Russian roulette.” • “Fall down” Gravity tends to make this modifier unnecessary. • “All throughout” More pervasive than occasionally throughout. • “Close proximity” As opposed to a distant proximity? • “Sum total” This really gets the point across … and then sum. • “Shared dialogue” When was the last time you heard a shared monologue? • “Mass exodus” When everyone leaves church at the same time? And speaking of church … • “Holy Bible” I’m so tired of these unholy Bibles. (Comment on this)
Thursday, September 6th, 2007
9:18 pm	(Comment on this)
Wednesday, August 29th, 2007
8:58 pm	Gen Con Report: On The GameMastering Bits This year, GMing ran pretty damned smoothly. It was nice to feel like we knew our way around & knew what we were doing. Well, except for me, who got to fill out a ticket envelope for the first time ever & left Jason shaking his head in disbelief. No, it's not that hard. But so many of the blanks are just stupid & redundant, and that kind of thing always trips me up. So, game-by-game, here I go: This Game Sucks ! We ran it 4 times, one time each day of the convention. I kind of expected for it to not be very well attended, but true to form, we wound up with almost completely full tables, even during the slots that were nowhere near sold out. Jason has specifics, but I know we got a lot of generic tickets from people who just dropped on by. Which was fine with me! With the exception of 2 people who played a rapid game for 10 minutes & then wandered off, everyone else (so, approximately 80 other players over 4 days) seemed to have a wonderfully good time. It was very satisfying to be able to break out the expansions & to teach a few variations. I am hoping for Life Sized This Game Sucks next year! Boy Meets Girl: A Tragedy We ran it 3 times, which was 1 time too many. It is interesting, because it seems like this game draws many more women than it does men. It also seems to get much more direct feedback in the form of things like "I love this game! Where can I get it?", which makes it all the more mind-boggling that it sells less than our other games. I played it on the last day when we were shorthanded for players. The other player & I matched up Bart, the seminary student, with Holly, the exotic dancer & party planner, making for some truly memorable Final Words and Dawning Horrors. I laughed so hard I cried. Supervillain University Totally new this year, so we ran it twice. With the exception of one guy who told the rest of the people at his table he'd be right back (and who NEVER returned), again, everyone seemed to have fun. The game took longer than it did in playtesting, by a significant factor, but it was really gratifying to see people chortling & whooping it up. We had several tables of people who knew each other, and boy, let me tell you, they went to whole new levels of cutthroat behavior! They definitely graduated with a Bachelor of Evil degree after that. One of the more humorous moments goes to the 12 y.o. kid who leaned over to ask his mom what "erectile dysfunction" meant. Yeah. We're going to hell. Are You a Werewolf? This game so totally rocks, we ran it just to be able to spread the love. It was funny, because last year, we seemed to be the only people running it. This year, EVERYONE was running it (just see my previous post about us playing in an impromptu game). Despite that, we had 2 villages going for a couple of hours...and had some really wacky (and often WRONG) trains of logic for ferreting out werewolves. It was amusing to watch, as the moderator, and everyone said they had an enjoyable time. Definitely worth their $1.50! Current Mood: satisfied (Comment on this)
Sunday, August 26th, 2007
2:04 pm	Firefly Hero </div> Damn, but I had an awesome time being Zoe. Current Mood: cheerful Current Music: semi-muted WoW sound effects (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, August 23rd, 2007
10:38 am	AE Games at GenCon </div> Current Mood: groggy Current Music: Leeches in the Lake (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, August 22nd, 2007
11:35 am	Gen Con Report: On The Gaming Bits First of all, just go visit Jason's report for an overview. Go on. I'll wait. There. Now, you've got an idea of what happened. Let me toss out more ideas from my perspective. 1) Jason really DID almost snort coffee out his nose when we were offered the 2 brothers in 7th Sea. I enjoyed the change of pace of playing the tall one. Jason's almost always the tall one.  Being the dumb ox in the 7th Sea group was very amusing, especially when they all lit upon my idea to masquerade as Montaigne sailors and lived up the GM's requirement we all speak in horrible French accents. Of which we did. Imagine a pirate-y AYE! transformed in a throaty "OUI!", while brandishing swords. Insane.   2) Order of the Stick was "THE" game of the year about 2 years back. I am so glad we didn't trample over others' bodies & shell out cash to get that thing.   3) Jason got roped into running Illuminati for the Rogue Judges during a time slot where we had tickets to play Suitors, so Todd went with me, instead. It's basically a standard card game, with some pretty art on 9 of the cards. It left me wondering where people get money to start up games like this, all shiny & boring, and how they manage to sell enough to want to do it again.   4) In that Firefly game, I picked Zoe because of Jason's brilliant strategy skills, in addition to his ability to play out things his character would, even if, as a player he knows it's stupid. I was also dying to see the interaction between him & Jayne. I wasn't thinking about how well I'd be able to carry off Zoe ... just that Jason would carry Mal off to a T. In the end, I absolutely LOVED being Zoe. It didn't hurt that all the other players did a great job, either. I hunted down the GM through Hero Games' forums and thanked him for a great game.   5) As Jason's already mentioned, paying $1.50 to playtest someone else's game left us feeling a bit used & underappreciated. The guy who ran ETI walked us through every aspect, asked us for feedback, and offered us playtest credit. The owner of GutBustin' Games did none of those things, but happily took our buck-fifty for our troubles. The more I think on it, the more it irks me. Sadly, this was the only game I got to play with my sweetie-pie, as he was off with playing BattleTech 3025 or Arkham Horror or Mythos for most of the convention.   6) The Kobalds Ate My Baby was funnier than I had expected ... some of it because of the GM, some because of the other players, but mostly because of Jason's wonderful dances that he had to perform in order to cast spells. If you want to see one of them, let me know. I'll hook you up. Unless he gets to me first and pays me not to show it. *grin* What else are friends for? I see on the GenCon forums someone didn't like the KAMB game, on account of the randomness. Methinks they came to the wrong game if they were looking for strategy.   7) Cutthroat Caverns was decent. If it were cheaper, yes, I would've picked it up. But not for $30, even with them giving me a free monster card. Nope. I also struggled with the other 2 games (i.e. not Todd & Jason) who started screwing me over right at the start. I mean, yes you've got to start somewhere ... but then don't be surprised when I wreak my revenge on you later, dudes.   8) Werewolf. Ah, it was just too fun for words. Yes, as Jason described, the game I played, we both wound up drawing the werewolf card. I cannot even begin to describe the sense of satisfaction upon not only winning the game, but doing it without any suspicion being drawn our way. They never suspected us. I think we need the challenge of the more advanced version of the game. 9) The 4 (J, T, sweetie-pie K, and myself) of us agree that we're willing to risk an RPG next year if it's run by Dana DeVries. Dana, please please please run a 7th Sea slot that the 4 of us have a chance in hell of getting into. Please! J, T, and myself are willing to try another round of Firefly Hero. Do you hear us Geoff Speare? *hint**hint**hint*. He also did mention his group, Infinite Imaginations Inc., and said we might look for some of his colleagues in 2008, too. Soon, like Jason, I'll post on my experiences as a GM...and later, as a vendor. But, that's all for now. Current Mood: excited (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, August 20th, 2007
9:00 pm	We got back last night from GenConIndy2007...and I'm still pretty much thoroughly exhausted. We ran a number of sessions of This Game Sucks!, Boy Meets Girl: A Tragedy, and Supervillain University through the Rogue Judges ... and (in my current opinion), even better, we got to play in a 7th Sea game (thanks, Dana!), a Firefly Hero game (thanks, GM), a session of Kobolds Ate My Baby (You rock, Marty!), a vicious game of Cutthroat Caverns (go figure), and also go to try out 2 games in production: Estimated Time to Invasion (pretty sweet) and Trailer Park Wars (not so thrilling). Jason & I played an impromptu game of "Are You a Werewolf?", drew the 2 werewolf cards & managed to decimate the entire village without anyone even suspecting we were the wolves. Very satisfying on a Sunday at 12:30 am. We are hoping to find the advanced version, with the Hunter, Cupid, the Little Girl, etc., sometime soon. Let us know if you know where to find a copy. There were many moments that are memorable -- brilliant plans, masterful role-playing, excellent die rolls, outrageous scenarios, warm fuzzies ... I come home incredibly exhausted, but unbelievably happy. Best GenCon in ... well ... it's probably the best one yet! P.S. We did wind up with some leftover copies of This Game Sucks!, Boy Meets Girl: A Tragedy, and Supervillain University, so let me know if you want me to hook you up. ;) Current Mood: tired Current Music: Tweekend, Crystal Method (Comment on this)
Monday, July 23rd, 2007
10:46 am	And badness knows, I am very "special" indeed... What kind of Supervillain are you? Demented Bastard! Let's face it, you're crazy. Not that there's anything wrong with that. You see, at Supervillain University we understand that not everyone fits society's artificial definition of "normal." The key is to give your dementia focus and direction, and we can provide you with the tools you need to do exactly that. After all, any sick bastard can pull the wings off of flies. But only a very special sick bastard would then strap those wings to his shoulders and use them as a hang-glider. Interested in learning more about Supervillain University's award-winning curriculum? Come visit us at Supervillain University! Take this quiz! Quizilla | Join | Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code Current Mood: indescribable (Comment on this)
Thursday, July 19th, 2007
6:48 pm	This says it all, really. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, April 17th, 2007
9:02 am	Life is like a box of ... crayons? I was given this quote to prompt me to think: “Life is like a box of crayons. Most people are the 8-color boxes, but what you're really looking for are the 64-color boxes with the sharpeners on the back. I fancy myself to be a 64-color box, though I've got a few missing. It's ok though, because I've got some more vibrant colors like periwinkle at my disposal. I have a bit of a problem though in that I can only meet the 8-color boxes. Does anyone else have that problem? I mean there are so many different colors of life, of feeling, of articulation.. so when I meet someone who's an 8-color type.. I'm like, "hey girl, magenta!" and she's like, "oh, you mean purple!" and she goes off on her purple thing, and I'm like, "no - I want magenta!"” -- John Mayer Here's my take on it. I disagree that most people are like the 8 color boxes. I think that most people are more like the 128 color, giant boxes. We've all got a bazillion vibrant colors at our disposal, but some people are just better at stretching and using the odd colors ... or repairing crayons when they get broken ... or not being afraid to lend out our crayons to others. For that matter, what's wrong with being an 8 color box, if you're really REALLY good at it? Life's all about differences -- embrace them! Current Mood: mellow Current Music: Marvin Gaye (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Tuesday, February 27th, 2007
8:49 am	(Comment on this)