Randomness
On the heels of this, I kind of want to run a 'random' Cyberpunk game. Roll for role, straight dice for stats (either straight or assigned, depending on how cruel I am), and then use fast/dirty rules for inventory, and maybe also skills. No lifepath, instead, write a description of how the hell the character happened.
Damn, now I really want to do this. If I can make it streamlined enough...
OK. The campaign will be entitled 'Disposable Heroes', and character death may be extremely frequent. Now to go reacquaint myself with the fast/dirty generator.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Friday, January 23, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Life is a process, and sometimes you just got to drop all the old shit like a bad dream and start kicking ass
So, I've been writing. I'm working slowly, but I have the direction of the story at least somewhat down. I've written maybe three pages (the fault of both no time and writing late at night), but in that time I've started to sketch out Lars. He's not in his final form yet, but his trademark phrase has come out, and I've started to hint at his past. Sky just showed up...though you wouldn't know it in the story (tee hee). And I really want to write this...that's the difference. This will be good, and I'm going to enjoy writing this. Finally. It's taken so fucking long.
My last entry was kind of a hint at this, so I titled it with a quote I plan on using in the story. I guess it's one way to take notes...I had started to write, and was on Blogger to announce it, and came up with the idea...so I just wrote it in the title box. It's kind of exemplary of Sky and Lars' relationship, being that Lars has a degree of self-doubt regarding why he does what he does, and Sky...doesn't. So I'm building Sky to be very blunt, like me, and Lars to have little idea of where the fuck his life is going...like me. This will be very interesting. The title of this post is the justification Lars gives to Sky as to why he decided to uproot and start the job which begins the plot. So, another note I wanted. Both of these quotes will come up in the next few pages.
My last entry was kind of a hint at this, so I titled it with a quote I plan on using in the story. I guess it's one way to take notes...I had started to write, and was on Blogger to announce it, and came up with the idea...so I just wrote it in the title box. It's kind of exemplary of Sky and Lars' relationship, being that Lars has a degree of self-doubt regarding why he does what he does, and Sky...doesn't. So I'm building Sky to be very blunt, like me, and Lars to have little idea of where the fuck his life is going...like me. This will be very interesting. The title of this post is the justification Lars gives to Sky as to why he decided to uproot and start the job which begins the plot. So, another note I wanted. Both of these quotes will come up in the next few pages.
Monday, January 19, 2009
If you can't trust you, I won't either.
I've finally had enough of a creative boilover, I'm going to start writing a story. Watch this space.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Inauguration
War on Tyranny
Obama is being inaugurated in less than a week. This video celebrates Bush's departure more than Obama's arrival, but...eh. The music is by Cage, who is one of my favorite rappers, and the video, though not an official video for the song, is extremely well done. Enjoy.
Obama is being inaugurated in less than a week. This video celebrates Bush's departure more than Obama's arrival, but...eh. The music is by Cage, who is one of my favorite rappers, and the video, though not an official video for the song, is extremely well done. Enjoy.
Friday, January 09, 2009
Winter break in review
Break is over, I head back to Pittsburgh tomorrow. The timing is, in my opinion, perfect. I never got murderously bored here, and I'm absolutely ready to go back.
My original plan was to spend the break learning how to play the guitar. I spent about two days practicing on and off, and realized that I don't really like the guitar. I had way more fun playing my bass here, despite the severe neck warpage. That bass is, unfortunately, beyond saving, even after two weeks of massive torsion bar adjustments. If I want to continue playing, I'm going to have to suck it up and buy myself a decent instrument. In the meanwhile, I'm going to bring the cheap guitar back to Pittsburgh and sell it.
I had a new plan, which came to fruition at the very beginning of my first whole week home. After talking to my dad, I wanted to brew some beer. He wanted to brew again too, so you know what? We brewed some beer. Just bottled it this evening. It won't be ready for another 2-3 weeks, so I'll let you all know how that turned out when I finally get to taste it in March. I had a lot of fun brewing, enough so that it may be a hobby I pursue in the future. After startup costs, it works out to be a fairly economical way to provide yourself with high quality beer. At worst, it doesn't cost more than buying a case of something decent. And, there's some chemistry, biology, and a lot of cool shit going on. Just reading a book about all the different ways you can experiment got my mental juices flowing.
And, on top of all that, I actually left the house. Saw some friends, and saw some people I hadn't seen in a while. Met new people too. That's always fun. So, all in all, I'd call it a productive break. I didn't let a sinus infection get in my way, I did more than be a blob, and I got some skiing in. Now, I go back to my last semester at CMU. Wow. It is weird to say that.
My original plan was to spend the break learning how to play the guitar. I spent about two days practicing on and off, and realized that I don't really like the guitar. I had way more fun playing my bass here, despite the severe neck warpage. That bass is, unfortunately, beyond saving, even after two weeks of massive torsion bar adjustments. If I want to continue playing, I'm going to have to suck it up and buy myself a decent instrument. In the meanwhile, I'm going to bring the cheap guitar back to Pittsburgh and sell it.
I had a new plan, which came to fruition at the very beginning of my first whole week home. After talking to my dad, I wanted to brew some beer. He wanted to brew again too, so you know what? We brewed some beer. Just bottled it this evening. It won't be ready for another 2-3 weeks, so I'll let you all know how that turned out when I finally get to taste it in March. I had a lot of fun brewing, enough so that it may be a hobby I pursue in the future. After startup costs, it works out to be a fairly economical way to provide yourself with high quality beer. At worst, it doesn't cost more than buying a case of something decent. And, there's some chemistry, biology, and a lot of cool shit going on. Just reading a book about all the different ways you can experiment got my mental juices flowing.
And, on top of all that, I actually left the house. Saw some friends, and saw some people I hadn't seen in a while. Met new people too. That's always fun. So, all in all, I'd call it a productive break. I didn't let a sinus infection get in my way, I did more than be a blob, and I got some skiing in. Now, I go back to my last semester at CMU. Wow. It is weird to say that.
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
The internet has all the secrets
I saw the brightest minds of my generation destroyed by Google
Bruce Sterling is a fucking brilliant author, no doubt.
Bruce Sterling is a fucking brilliant author, no doubt.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
2008: The year in review
What a crazy year this has been.
I rang in 2008 halfway across the world, in Israel. I suppose it was fitting, because if any one event had the biggest impact on my year, it was Birthright. It changed my religious outlook, changed my social life, and probably was involved in one way or another in every big thing that happened to me after that.
The most significant part of my life, school, was on a good upswing. My second semester junior year and first semester senior year were two of my best semesters, grade-wise. I also took classes that began my real end of college, my big projects. And now, with only one semester left, I'm feeling the heat, so to speak.
Junior year ended with a bang. I ended a long relationship, turned 21, won a trophy (buggy, woo), and then left for Chicago at the end of May. The internship was an eye-opening experience in my life, and will probably be a very important one as I continue to search for a job.
Then, senior year started. The job search combined with that damn lab class helped ratchet up my frustration and stress level in what all other ways should have been an easy semester. Alls well that ends well, though, and breaking 3.5 for a semester GPA was the highest GPA I have thus received at CMU. If it weren't for that lab class, I would have had a 4.0.
And now, I'm here. With things changing as quickly as they have this past semester, I don't know what to expect during my last semester. I guess it's reasonable to assume more adventure of the type I started having this past semester, but that's so vague, it's hard to say it means anything. The only thing to do now is keep an open mind about everything ahead of me. College ends in five months, real life begins. What a thought.
I rang in 2008 halfway across the world, in Israel. I suppose it was fitting, because if any one event had the biggest impact on my year, it was Birthright. It changed my religious outlook, changed my social life, and probably was involved in one way or another in every big thing that happened to me after that.
The most significant part of my life, school, was on a good upswing. My second semester junior year and first semester senior year were two of my best semesters, grade-wise. I also took classes that began my real end of college, my big projects. And now, with only one semester left, I'm feeling the heat, so to speak.
Junior year ended with a bang. I ended a long relationship, turned 21, won a trophy (buggy, woo), and then left for Chicago at the end of May. The internship was an eye-opening experience in my life, and will probably be a very important one as I continue to search for a job.
Then, senior year started. The job search combined with that damn lab class helped ratchet up my frustration and stress level in what all other ways should have been an easy semester. Alls well that ends well, though, and breaking 3.5 for a semester GPA was the highest GPA I have thus received at CMU. If it weren't for that lab class, I would have had a 4.0.
And now, I'm here. With things changing as quickly as they have this past semester, I don't know what to expect during my last semester. I guess it's reasonable to assume more adventure of the type I started having this past semester, but that's so vague, it's hard to say it means anything. The only thing to do now is keep an open mind about everything ahead of me. College ends in five months, real life begins. What a thought.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Anathem, by Neal Stephenson
As part of my winter break, I managed to read a book. Yes, one. If it weren't for a stubborn case of sinusitis I'd probably do more, but this one's a doozy anyway. Clocking in at nearly 900 pages, Anathem continues Stephenson's tradition of writing long books. This one, I can say, is worth it.
The conceit of the novel is that, in the world it takes place in, academics are cloistered in maths, which are essentially monasteries, except for academics instead of religion. The story follows Erasmas, a brother in one of these 'maths'.
The plot in the book is engrossing, and the world is well-built, if not a little bit disturbing. A lot of parallels are drawn regarding the way academia is treated in our world, and though it is clearly nothing as extreme as the case presented in the book, it does make you ask some questions as to what Stephenson is trying to say with this.
One thing to say is that Stephenson takes setting his book in an academic cloister seriously, and there's a lot of math, a lot of philosophy, and a fair amount of quantum physics. It makes the book harder to read, yes, but if you're willing to learn along, or have a decent academic background of any sort (I'm neither a physics nor a math major, but was able to keep up with most of the abstract concepts), it will greatly improve your ability to appreciate the book. I don't think you need to be extraordinarily educated to understand things the way Stephenson presents them, but you do need to be patient enough to understand the discussions the characters have on the subjects, possibly rereading them if need be (I did do this a few times, for this and a reason outlined below).
The one thing I find a little irksome in the book was Stephenson's vocabulary, notably the words he made up. For the most part, they add to the experience, and play in heavily towards the end of the book. So, it may have been worth the effort on Stephenson's part. There are 'dictionary' entries spread throughout the text as well as a glossary in the back, though some of these are still confusing. I went through most of the book with only some feeling as to what both 'Deolater' and 'Ita' meant, and both of these terms were fairly important.
All in all, the book was quite good, and kept me hooked for the two days I spent reading it. It is worth noting that reading a 900 page book in two days is not something I normally do, but for Stephenson, I'll put in the effort. After coming out deeply satisfied with this read, it may just be worth it to try the Baroque Cycle again. Maybe.
The conceit of the novel is that, in the world it takes place in, academics are cloistered in maths, which are essentially monasteries, except for academics instead of religion. The story follows Erasmas, a brother in one of these 'maths'.
The plot in the book is engrossing, and the world is well-built, if not a little bit disturbing. A lot of parallels are drawn regarding the way academia is treated in our world, and though it is clearly nothing as extreme as the case presented in the book, it does make you ask some questions as to what Stephenson is trying to say with this.
One thing to say is that Stephenson takes setting his book in an academic cloister seriously, and there's a lot of math, a lot of philosophy, and a fair amount of quantum physics. It makes the book harder to read, yes, but if you're willing to learn along, or have a decent academic background of any sort (I'm neither a physics nor a math major, but was able to keep up with most of the abstract concepts), it will greatly improve your ability to appreciate the book. I don't think you need to be extraordinarily educated to understand things the way Stephenson presents them, but you do need to be patient enough to understand the discussions the characters have on the subjects, possibly rereading them if need be (I did do this a few times, for this and a reason outlined below).
The one thing I find a little irksome in the book was Stephenson's vocabulary, notably the words he made up. For the most part, they add to the experience, and play in heavily towards the end of the book. So, it may have been worth the effort on Stephenson's part. There are 'dictionary' entries spread throughout the text as well as a glossary in the back, though some of these are still confusing. I went through most of the book with only some feeling as to what both 'Deolater' and 'Ita' meant, and both of these terms were fairly important.
All in all, the book was quite good, and kept me hooked for the two days I spent reading it. It is worth noting that reading a 900 page book in two days is not something I normally do, but for Stephenson, I'll put in the effort. After coming out deeply satisfied with this read, it may just be worth it to try the Baroque Cycle again. Maybe.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
New thinking
In the throes of my recent illness, I had some time to reconcile my personal caveats with a fantasy setting. Now I have some great ideas.
I don't want to give away too many details. That being said, the concept is the world after a cataclysm has ripped away at the fabric of the universe. In this setting, the fabric metaphor is taken a little literally.
There's the steampunk influence, the post-apocalyptic influence, there's magic, and there's some interesting religious elements. With some variations on material I've already written and some liberal usage of concepts from GURPS Thaumatology, I think it'll be both a unique and very cool setting. My plan is to write more over winter break.
I don't want to give away too many details. That being said, the concept is the world after a cataclysm has ripped away at the fabric of the universe. In this setting, the fabric metaphor is taken a little literally.
There's the steampunk influence, the post-apocalyptic influence, there's magic, and there's some interesting religious elements. With some variations on material I've already written and some liberal usage of concepts from GURPS Thaumatology, I think it'll be both a unique and very cool setting. My plan is to write more over winter break.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
