If They Put It In The Book, It's Gotta Work, Right? Right?

Hey, folks. SinSynn here.

So despite the fact that I'm working every day 'cept Christmas this month, and I'm eight different kindsa beat up, I felt possessed to write something. Dunno why. I'm prolly gonna miss some sleep cuz of this, but whatevs. The Hamster is spinning.

So I thought I'd talk about a gaming conundrum I'm currently experiencing with Infinity, but I've gone through similar experiences with other games.

Anywho, what I'm trying to do is run a Shasvastii Sectorial List, and include a Sheskiin Link Team...using Gwailos.
It's, uh, not gone well so far.
I haven't quite thrown up my hands yet, but there have been moments of frustration. Not quite rage-inducing frustration, but we're getting there...
I'm one of those knuckleheads that'll see something in a game, and I'll be like 'ermahgerd, that's so cool. I gotta try it.'
I will completely disregard any amount of evidence presented to me demonstrating that this thing I've seen is a not-so-good idea. I will run out and buy whatever it is that I need to do this thing, and set about trying to take over the known universe with it.

*Hey, a Xenos hasta have a hobby, amirite? I'll get this done before Pinky and the Brain do...I hope*

[RPG] I Can't Believe I am Doing This- Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 2nd Ed

There are times in my life when I think the universe decides to teach me a lesson, and likes laughing at me while doing so.

I am pretty well known for not enjoying D&D in any way, shape or form. Between the "medieval fantasy as trope", the limiting characters, classes and alignments, the very ridiculous to me armor/to hit rules, and the general... BLAH nature of the genre and game, I have always found it as interesting as milquetoast.

this is far prettier than what I think of D&D 

But recently, this funny thing happened. I made a new friend, and the new friend is a HUGE AD&D nut. He has a group that he plays with regularly and it is massively fun for him. He's genuinely passionate about playing and can't wait to get new people involved in games and gaming. (It's really fun to have a friend that is just invigorated about getting people into gaming as I am- I was sort of burning out for a while. Having him as a friend is feeding my fire, and that allows me to feed his right back. I love the synergy of positive relationships and how they help the people in them grow.)

So very recently, one of the GMs that plays at my shop was announcing that he had openings in his AD&D 2nd Ed Game, and my new friend was very interested in the game. I know this GM well, and he is a really stand up guy. He's very friendly, easy to talk to, and the group he has at the moment seems to be one of the nicest around. I very generously vouched for the fellow in question and while doing so, realized I pretty much talked myself into a corner and that I needed to play in the game or look like an idiot.

So I joined my 2nd ever D&D game.

For me, the best part has been the people I am playing with. I won't lie- it is very hard for me to play with people I don't know, and I HAVE to like them. But I really didn't know the guys at all, nor did I have any idea whether we would get along well. I sat down for my first session, worried about whether I would fit in, or if they would like me, and a million other things.

I should never have worried. Playing with these guys was like finding my way home again. It's super comfortable, fun and wonderful to be back at a table again.

It is super weird to be ENJOYING a game I generally don't like- but it's an important lesson for me, that I can do things and have fun again.

Books, authors and more

I talked about my current writing malaise in my last post. I got some really wonderful commentary and feedback, which I truly appreciated. It had been something like 7 months since I had last posted, and to know people remembered me and cared enough to comment really made my situation seem a little more bearable.

I've fully admitted to being a book worm, a lover of words and a general nerd about reading. For a long time, I read anything I could get my hands on, and generally enjoyed it. As I got older, my taste slowly refined, and I finally figured out that I adore detective stories.

Detective stories, folks- NOT murder mysteries. I can't stand mysteries. I absolutely hate them with a burning, scathing, unbridled and relentless fury. Mysteries drive me crazy. Many of them are formulaic, and a lot of the time they try the Sherlock Holmes/Agatha Christie minute, obscure and irrelevant detail bit as a key to discovering whodunnit. I can't stand that crap.

I prefer detective stories, especially serials. Following a gumshoe along on their adventures both good and bad is like visiting an old friend and seeing what they have been up to since the last visit.

Here's a list of some of may favorite authors, with a list of their books I enjoy, and some commentary about why I like them. I'd love to hear about your favorite friends- I need SOMETHING to do.

A Voice from the Grave

Jim McDougal may not be stopped, but I sure am. 

I recently gt invited to (and joined) a group aimed at getting aspiring writers into writing. The group posts work on a shared drive, and then folks make comments on each other's work.

I put up an older piece, just to get a sense of what the group thought of my skill and ability level. So far, I've found that the criticism of my work is fair, but there's a lot of it.

I'm ok with that for the most part. I don't have too much of an ego; and getting better at writing is something I am interested in doing- whether now or over time. But that's my problem. I can't get better because I can't seem to write.

I have been blocked or stalled for ideas for months. I simply have no idea what to write about. I'm not currently gaming and haven't been for over a year. I'm only casually "arting". However, that process is slow moving and the most baby stepped place I have been in for a long time and I don't think it's of interest to gaming people. (I might be wrong- it does happen.)

I asked a friend to challenge me to write a story hook, and he gave me a lyric to use as inspiration. So far, I haven't had a lot of luck coming up with anything more than a hair of an idea for "putting out fires with gasoline". I'm still sketching out the thought I do have because I think it could be cool.  Putting words to paper /typing on the computer has been a lot harder than I ever imagined it might be several years ago when I started this blog, and I haven't been able to figure out what I want to do; or even if I want to do anything at all with it.

I can't use yarn because I can't knit. Is this blog my mental yarn?

I reviewed some of my archives and I remember loving writing and having a lot to say. I have stuff in drafts from months (almost a year)  ago, but none of it inspires me or causes me to want to write. Very little is motivating to me at this point, which is causing me a lot of concern.

Even the alliterations I know and love are beyond me at this point. It seems I'm spinning my wheels and I have nothing to get me out of the mud.

But a dear friend sent me a nice email, and asked me what was going on here. It was kind of nice to know someone out there liked what I was doing when I was writing. I don't know that I have any real answers for my pal, but I'm writing something; anything- just to be writing again.

Infinity does Xenos right! Meet some friends o' mine.

Hey, folks. SinSynn here.

Anybody that reads my stuffs over at the House of Paincakes knows that I've totally fallen head over heels for Infinity. I've tried my hand at a buncha different games now, and invested a few dollars (maybe thousands, actually...don't you judge me) on several of them, but I've never been quite as obsessed with any of them the way I am with Infinity right now.
I'm literally ashamed (ok, not really...I'm just being dramatic. I have no shame) of the money I've spent on 40k. Ditto that for Flames of War (I've got two untouched starter sets, even, along with several boxes of tanks, troopies and halftracks). I even somehow managed to acquire a small Cryx army for Warmachine and played a few games back in the day, but my regular opponent suffered 'spousal hobby interference' (that's totally a thing) and Warmachine fell to the wayside.

Ah, but Infinity...I gotta tell ya, folks...Infinity is already like, my game. It's the one I've been looking for, the one I've been waiting on and the one I was hoping to find, all wrapped up in a sexy, anime-styled, bullet-filled pinata.

Every Saturday for the past month I've played until the Crazy Lady I Live With puts a stop to it, usually between midnight and 2am. And yes, I get punished with extra doggie walks and garbage duty...never mind the seemingly inevitable hangovers.
-_-

You know what?
Totally worth it.

I mean, look at this- this is a soon to be released figure for my Army of choice, the Combined. How could I resist something like this?

*Kerrigan from Starcraft tribute, fer sure. But oh so awesome*