Life Carries On

[the_gneech]

Well, having had my night of down-ness about the schedule, I got as much sleep as I could and carried on. Thanks to everyone for the comfort, again -- it really does help, and I try not to go off about stuff unless I really am in bad shape.

Anyway, since I got through Saturday, that leaves only six more days to go until my next day off, which sucks less seven days did, anyhow. ;) I played D&D with jamesbarrett, who was the DM, and Camstone Fox this evening. My fighter/wizard character finally acquired a familiar, a cuddly lil' leopard currently going only by the name of "Kitty." And my cuddly lil' leopard tore out the throat of a not-so-cuddly sorcerer/rogue bounty hunter who had single-handedly opened a can of whupass on the party -- go Kitty! :) Of course, said bounty hunter would have been even tougher if he'd actually cast any of the 3rd-level spells he was entitled to.

James (a.k.a. Frisk) has come light-years in his quality as a DM; although he was once somewhat rough around the edges, he's quite good now, and I am glad he's running a game. Having other players in the group who also actually want to play makes a big difference. By the time our last gaming group fell apart, only he and I were actually wanting to play, and I was a little burned out myself -- largely because I'd become so tired of trying to engage the other players who weren't really interested.

Camstone, who started gaming for the first time with Frisk and me, is also a naturally good player, although like me, he's a painfully bad dice roller. (I hope he's not as bad a dice roller as me in the long run, tho, or our respective characters are in for a world of hurt.)

I've got to learn to curtail my aggressiveness in trying to hog the spotlight as a player. It comes, I think, as a result of being the DM most of the time -- I'm used to being the one whose job it is to keep the game moving, arbitrate the rules, and make judgements about how various characters act and what they do. I'm not used to playing just one character, so I am constantly making suggestions about things other players' characters can/should do, funny bits of dialog, etc. -- and I don't want to put words into other peoples' mouths.

I'm pretty sure Camstone's gotten a bit annoyed with me about it a few times, and I don't mean to do it. But I am aware of the problem, and taking pains to fix it. Particularly I make a point of having my character be off "busy doing something" to give his character opportunities to do stuff, doing things that take my character's development in different directions so my character's abilities don't undercut his, and so forth.

Gaming made me feel somewhat better; I also felt better this morning because I got some extra sleep, and had an interesting and surreal dream. I was getting married (yes, I know it's already happened once), and it was at a big country estate of some sort (because there were hundreds of guests, including of all the unexpected people, the furry artist "BushyCat," whom I have barely even met), with pavilions and rented amplifiers for speeches, etc. I was asked to make a speech, and stood up on a sort of stage. Somebody in the audience made a joke about me being the bride; I said, "Oh, yes, let me throw my bouquet at you -- except I'm wearing a tuxedo! Here, let me throw this potted plant at you instead." The audience laughed at that, and I started my speech, "Well, I'd just like to tell you all..."

Then I noticed great, dark, thunderstorm clouds gathering fast, so I finished my sentence, "...please go inside where you'll be safe." Everybody started to go into the big manor house, while the other wedding organizers and I ran around frantically trying to get all the rented electronic equipment under shelter before the rain destroyed it and/or it attracted lightning. It was somewhere in here that this dream woke me up.

I suspect it may have been due to the fact that we had thunderstorms here last night, so I was probably hearing them in my sleep.

Last but not least, I heard a little rumor about the manager of the restaurant next to Starbucks today, from a fairly reliable source. It's nothing all that bad, but I won't repeat it in the interest of discretion. My only point is that as rumors go, it makes me giggle uncontrollably.

Anyway, if you've read this far, you have my astounded gratitude. Thanks for the encouragement re: yesterday, everyone. I'm sorry to have been so uppity.

Good night everyone. :) Have a great tomorrow.

-The Gneech

Comments

[level-head.livejournal.com]

It occurs to me that if you could figure out a sleep/creative/work schedule that functions for a day that you DO work, you could conquer the world.

By "functions", I mean keeps you happy and in good spirits creatively as well as allowing you to keep the daily bread business happening.

Also, as I recall, you walk to/from work. Does a bit of creative storytelling into a headset mike hooked to a tape recorder, while walking, seem like a possibility? It might be nice to take advantage of the time as "up" rather than "down" time, creatively, and you sure as hell cannot draw while doing this. But your natural story construction and telling skills would not be interfered with, I think, by having to walk at the same time. ;)

===|==============/ Level Head

[the-gneech.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, on a day I work, the first activity I engage in when I get home tends to be, "Collapse and pass out." I do use the walk for general brainstorming and unstructured meditative thought. However, I can't do "hard" productive thought without paper and/or a keyboard to type into -- preferably a keyboard. I need to be able to look at it as I work. So what I do while I walk is project various possibilities, and see which one "feels" right ... which I will then concretize next time I get a keyboard to clack away at.

-The Gneech

[torakiyoshi.livejournal.com]

Do you have a way to record your thoughts for later revisitng while you walk?

I find that when I think of something while driving, if I don't write it down or something, I'll forget about it by time I'm off work and back to the apartment. I could sure use some advice on how to retain them better.

*Sigh* My brain is about as solid as Swiss Cheese.

[the-gneech.livejournal.com]

Mainly I repeat to myself several times. :) -TG

[jamesbarrett.livejournal.com]

Hey! I do that too. I go over the idea, and then over the idea, and then over the idea again in my head. Later, when I can get a chance to write it down, I remember it cause I spent so much time just thinking about it. -Friski

[torakiyoshi.livejournal.com]

Hmm... a genius giving advie to a genius. I'm jealous! ;)

Perhaps the kitty's name should be "Baby"? It seems appropriate for a cuddly little leopard. ;)

Glad you're feeling better about life in general.

[the-gneech.livejournal.com]

In the immortal words of Tim Allen ... "Uhhrrr?"

Re: Baby, I'm hardly Cary Grant. ;) -TG

[jamesbarrett.livejournal.com]

*shhh!* Your spoiling my fun. The genius' aren't aware I'm listening in. Before you know, I could be one too.

I can't rmemeber the words they sang to the leopard there or I would add them to this post. *pretends to be singing* -Frisk9

[torakiyoshi.livejournal.com]

It appeared recently on the SJ forums, I think.... Either that or a LJ post somewhere. I can't remember.

[jamesbarrett.livejournal.com]

I remembered. It was "I can't give you anything but love, baby" -Frisk t