Academia

So one of my favourite websites, My Life Is Nerdy, now has a forum. I've been lurking and posting there for the last few days and it's a quite amusing place to be, so I recommend you check it out, fellow nerds.

This week has been a busy one. There's about a month left in the semester, which means the papers and tests are starting to pile on. So tonight I've got to read a book and figure out some sort of response to it before going to karaoke. And after grabbing dinner with my mom -- she misses me.

On Monday afternoon Amy and I signed the lease to our shiny new apartment (yeah, we got the big one - squee), and our move-in date is the 16th, which is about two and a half weeks from now. So I have two and a half weeks to start shifting things into boxes and cleaning things up.

Exciting, no?

I'm also registered for my fall classes, the last classes I will take as an undergraduate EVER.
And I'm going to go insane.

Why? Because this is what my schedule looks like:

Monday / Wednesday / Friday -- no class

Tuesday / Thursday:

9:30-10:45am
Classics 409: Religion in Late Antiquity

11:00am - 12:15pm
History 412: Greek City States

12:30 - 1:45pm
History 436: Saints, Witches and Madwomen

3:30 - 4:45pm
English 452: Fiction Writing

Insane, no? Four 400 level classes, all on the same day, and only one of them (classics) is a requirement.

I'm going to explode in mid-September. Just wait.

So yeah. April is going to be a busy month. I've got papers in three classes, and projects too. I've got research to do, outlines to draw up, work shifts to doze through, books to read... yeah, I'm a busy one.

Least this weekend I will blow off some steam. Friday there's a DJ battle at the Bourbon theater I'm going to go to with some buddies, and Saturday and Sunday are D&D days, which will be lots of fun.

So that's my life update. I'm busy, but things are good all the same. :)

I've Never Been Much For Blogging Daily Anyway

It's been an exceptionally busy week here at Taking Ten. As well as lots of school-related junk, we celebrated the birthday of my friend and future roommate Amy (I got her a tricorn pirate hat, which she loved, and sang her Elton John at karaoke) on Wednesday, which was amusing. I also finished Stone of Tears and have now moved on to Blood of the Fold, which I am enjoying just as much.

I also got my tattoo on Tuesday: it's a small yin-yang in the center of my back between my shoulderblades. It hurt like a bitch since it's on my spine, but it's healing nicely. Itches a bit today, but that just means it's healing. :3 Of course, whenever someone slaps me on the back, it stings. Gotta love friends.

Other life news includes apartment hunting (Amy and I found an amazing place in the middle of town: nice neighborhood, 1100 square feet, less than $600 a month, secured entry, big rooms, balcony... it's perfect) and getting my car tonight. It's a black '06 Honda Civic, 2-door. Her name is Kaylee.

Because yeah, I'm the queen nerd and name my appliances and vehicles. Go me.

Tomorrow is GamerKhan VI, which means my usual plans for sleeping will be thwarted. That's all right though; I'm used to going without sleep, and can probably nap if necessary. I'm all set and ready to cook, organize and hostess it up as well as hanging out with all my favorite nerdy friends. It will, as always, be a blast.

Anyhoo, I'm going to spend the rest of my evening getting a bit more writing done, reading more Sword of Truth, and watching my friends play Civilization IV.

On Writing Longhand and Other Things

So as I mentioned, I'm writing the first draft of my newest novel, Stella Felicis (a working title, I'm not sure I'm a fan of it at the moment) in longhand. I bought a few small college-ruled notebooks (kinda like the Moleskine ones, just cheaper) in Seattle and have been working on the story with pen and paper instead of on my usual medium, which is frantic typing.

It's a very different experience. I backtrack even less than I usually do. I can write anywhere (including class -- there goes my productivity next week), and I feel somewhat more accomplished than I would writing a few pages in MS Word.

There is of course the huge downside, which is my RSI. Today my left wrist, and part of my arm, is in quite a bit of pain and tingling unpleasantness.

So yeah. Tomorrow I'll be scheduling a doctor's appointment. It's the first time I've had to get this checked out in almost three years, but its getting to the point where it's becoming necessary.

Guess that's the price I have to pay for pursuing my dream.

Not the best day I must admit. But I'm dealing with it the way any self-respecting nerd should: Sunday D&D, Mountain Dew, cookies, and eating cream cheese frosting straight from the jar.

Yeah, I'm hardcore.

School tomorrow. Hopefully I won't suffer too horribly. At least now I'm going to take advantage of my work schedule to read. :3

GamerKhan one-shots

Here's the list of the one-shots for Gamerkhan VI, taking place Saturday the 27th of March. Message me with questions, for directions to the location, to sign up, whatever you like.

12:00 – 4:00pm
DM: Tim St Arnold.
The kingdom of Verasin is in chaos. The once shrouded Kurnic Assassins Guild has been forced out of hiding by the genocidal Consortium of the Light. The two forces have picked the City of Renal to be a point of contest between them. With the Four Heroes of Kurnstas away and the remaining assassins subdued, killed or on other missions it has fallen on the rising ranks of the guild to go into the shadows and deliver Kunrstas' blessings to their foes. You have been chosen to engage on a mission of certain death; yet, with your help you may save the guild from destruction before the Heroes can return. As the city holds it breath can you defeat its foes before they are able to launch their religious crusade?

A couple of key notes for the one shot. First this is an assassination campaign, meant to be about stealth and assassinations rather then kick the door in beat everything to a pulp and keep going, please keep that in mind when going forward (not trying to push you away but its not your average one shot). Second, you will be a level 3 NPC, so find something that works for you, also all races are allowed I just need to know what they are to modify them. Which leads me to the next point, there is no magic in this one shot, let me repeat that: NO MAGIC IN THE ONE SHOT. So please do not pick an adept or any other NPC class with magic capabilities I wont let you play it, I will modify races to make them playable but if they will take to much modification I will ask you to change your choice. Other than that all weapons, armor and supplies will be provided for you so no worries.
4 players

Alan Wigness
Hyrule has been ruled by a single royal bloodline for hundreds of years, and for all those years there have been those who stood in the Shadows, defending Hyrule from any who seek to destroy it. They are the Sheikah. Now as the Kingdom of Hyrule is entering an unprecedented age of prosperity, the Sheikah face a foe greater than any they have met. Will history remember this day, or will the Sheikah fall from Shadow into obscurity?
D&D 3.5 Core only
Level 8 standard point buy
Must take 3 levels of Rogue
Six Players
Players: (six slots)

***

4:00 – 8:00pm
Axis and Allies Minis
Run by Tim Auten
Another game of Axis and Allies minis.
Any number of players welcome.

Steven Davis
d20 Modern
Level 7
d20 Modern Basic Classes
Make your own characters (contact Lora for the d20 modern information, or use google)
Any number of players

God has decided to retire so he can spend more time bowling. However, before he left, he sent everyone an email describing his abdication and what would happen next. Most of them were caught by spam filters, but the ones that got through were still circulated:
------------------------------
From: god@god.god
To: The World
Cc: Hell, Heaven
Subject: Retirement
I have retired so that I can spend more time bowling. As I will no longer be ruling the
universe, I am leaving things in the care of my archangel, Michael. Parties who are
interested in taking control are free to search the city of Flameville, USA for my crown, which houses all of my powers as ruler of the universe. Thanks, -God.
------------------------------
Whether through gullibility or brilliance, your character believes this email is true. You have headed to Flameville to search for the crown, but first, you're going to get coffee at a bistro on the outskirts of the town. There are a number of weirdos in this cafe, and some of them may know more than they're willing to admit.

Characters will be Level 7 in one of the basic classes (each one is based on one of the ability scores). For initial stats, roll 4x d5+1 and take the highest 3. Do that 7 times and take the highest 6. Yes, they should be really high. As for background, I will accept any kind of character, but I expect you to at least have a reasonable motive for seeking out control of the universe.

Finally, I expect players to have a sense of humor and a fairly relaxed attitude. If the description so far wasn't enough of a warning, I will be mocking religion, tradition, and many other things as well, so sensitive players should probably stay away.

A Gig in Samaranth
DM: Beta
An adventure of wacky hijinks and adventure, set in the border city of Samaranth. Characters will be premade by the DM, and first preference will be given to players who have NOT been in one of my one-shots. Accepting up to six players. The system is Umzamo, my 3.5 variant. If you know 3.5, you should have no problem picking it up.Oh, and you're all bards, or minstrels, if you prefer.
Players: Tim St. Arnold, Alan Wigness, Alex Rule, Judy Radloff (two slots)

***

8:00-12:00am or later
Kyle Harrison and Alan Wigness’s Boardgame
The game has a maximum of six players.

The game is a cut-throat fantasy adventure. You are a group of evil adventurers working your way through a temple of pure good to reach the ultimate prize: the Elixir of Immortality. The elixir is guarded by a very pissed off angel. You and your evil comrades must work together to gain power and eventually defeat the angel. However, the elixir only appears if a person is alone. So, in the end, you have to kill all of your allies.

The object of the game, of course, is to get the Elixir of Life by conquering the temple, defeating the angel, and killing your buddies. So, throughout the game, you're all working together but still making sure you're more powerful than anyone else.

The game is d20 based; bringing your own dice is recommended. The players control both their own evil race/evil class combination (rolled at random) and the enemies (the good guys). The enemies all have associated decision-making algorithms. Also, the enemies' stats and algorithms are all known to the players so that keeps everything fair and balanced.

My advice to the players is this: if you have a choice between helping an ally who isn't TOTALLY screwed and grabbing some loot...grab the loot.

Amy’s Campaign
4th Edition, characters will be level 30 and premade by the DM. The players will be evil, and attempting to effectively reorganize the ruling order of the gods. So yeah, Deicide is expected.
Five to Seven players permitted

Chris’s Campaign
Pre-determined players and campaign. Something about celestials. I think.
Players: John Fuqua, Alpha Thomas, Evan Phillips (FULL)


***

Remember, four hours is your ballpark time, so don’t panic if you go over (especially the later campaigns). The schedule is flexible and subject to shifting slowly backwards. So don’t freak out kids.

To sign up, PLEASE message me – even if you tell me in person, I want a message so I can keep track of everything, as I won’t always be near my computer to sign you up. Therefore, message me on facebook so if two people sign up for something that there’s only one slot for, I can give priority to the person with the earlier message.

Thanks folks! See you at the KHAN!

Newbie's First PUG: Some Thoughts

So as regular readers (I assume there are some of you out there) are aware, I started playing D&D Online a month or so ago with my roommate's encouragement, and ever since then I've been leveling up a few characters and exploring the virtual world of Eberron. My current main, a human cleric, hit level 5 last night (congrats to Jenaskha and her epic Cleric-fu) with the help of Jim's sorcerer (yay regular quest-buddy) and a few cool guys in a PUG (Pick-Up Group) I joined while I was waiting for Jim to get online.

Now, I admit it, I have never PUGged before out of fear of my newbishness shining through, but last night I decided to suck it up when a Bard by the name of Fuzzed popped up in general chat: 'LFM Kobold Assault Normal and Beyond'.

Now, Kobold Assault is at the same time one of my favorite and least favorite quests in Stormreach. It's a simple objective: slay 200 kobolds. Not something one could really do on their own at low levels, but if you bring a buddy or a hireling, it's easily accomplished.

Because of this, it also is one of the more popular XP farms. That and the loot isn't bad - it's where I picked up my first set of Full Plate when I first ran through it a few weeks ago. Thus, when I contacted Fuzzed and asked him what his group needed and found out all they needed was a healer, I figured, hell, why not? It was that or solo-quest the Waterworks, and that was getting old fast.

So I joined up with a group that feature a Bard, two Rogues, a Wizard and (I think) a Sorceress, and we ran through Kob Assault once on Normal and then once more on Hard, and I got to experience what it means to be the only healer in a group.

It's pretty brutal.

When I wasn't fighting off MOBs I was keeping a watchful eye on my party's health bars, running to find them and give them a CL or CM wounds (Cure Light, Cure Moderate) whenever they dipped to or below half their HP. It was daunting.

All in all though it went well. There was only one death in the entire two runs (the halfling rogue got completely zerged at one point), and the XP got me up to almost level 5, so it was a successful run.

That said, here is what newbie MMO player learned from her first PUG:

1. Being the only healer is HARD and requires a lot of attention
2. No-one can tell you're a newbie, so caution, rather than fear, should be felt
3. When the party splits, go with the smaller group - two against a mob of MOBs is better than one
4. Watching a human bard dance while stealthing = funniest thing ever (tangent: the dances in DDO are the lamest things EVER. True story).
5. As awesome as it was to game with cool new people, I prefer solo or duo-questing. Though that's because Jenaskha and Serenea (Jim's Sorceress) make an awesome team. That and it's a lot easier to focus on one person's healing besides your own as opposed to five other people.

Conclusion: Being the bandaid box in a PUG = hard.

Also, from what my friends have told me, being the only healer in a PUG is much much worse when playing WoW.

...

Note to self: when I finally play WoW, don't play a healer.

At least not for my first character. XD

Adventures in Portland

It's been an excellent vacation thus far; I've been sleeping in, going on adventures, reading a ridiculous amount of good fiction and even getting some gaming in!

So where do I begin?

Well, there's the reading: I finished up Wizard's First Rule and moved right on to Stone of Tears. Goodkind's writing style is excellent, but very intense, so I have been taking frequent breaks with this second one. I doubt that will last long though - I expect the story will grab my attention just like the first book did.
I also picked up the first book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians book and read it straight through in two hours yesterday, prompting me to pick up the second one this morning when I was at the Lloyd center shopping. I also devoured that one in two hours, and something tells me tomorrow I'll pick up the third. I really should wait until I get back to Nebraska and borrow them from Jim... but they're really good! So we'll see how that goes.

I also went to numerous bookstores, including Powells, my favorite book warehouse in existence, where I picked up many fun items to read and enjoy, including a few cheap gaming books <3. Always a good thing! Other things: Portland has a pirate store. Seriously guys, an honest to gods pirate store. A store full of nothing but cool pirate merchandies and accessories and party favors and costumes. I squee'd. Like a silly girl. And then bought shiny things. :3



So yeah. Epicsauce.

I've also gotten some good DDO in, and I'm hoping tonight will be the night I get through enough quests to hit level five. Hoping Jim will up for some joint questing to boot - our Cleric-Sorc team is utterly doomish. We pwn everything in our paths.

Speaking of which, tonight I joined in on a D&D Encounters group at Guardian Games, an excellent little gaming store in Portland I wish I could live in it is so awesome. The gentlemen I gamed with were lovely individuals, and we had a blast running through an encounter with some muggers. I played a pre-made Half-Elf Cleric. It was fun, and took the edge of my dice-rolling jones.

Everyone say it with me: Lora, you're a huge nerd.

Speaking of more nerdery, I've started a new novel! Even better, I'm writing it in longhand, something I haven't done in years. The novel is going to be a bit more adult-oriented fantasy set in a space age. Mmm, genre-mixing. It's delicious.

So that's my week. I've seen sights, eaten lots of delicious food, stayed up really late, read books, gamed a bit, spent way more money than I should, and had an all-around good time.

Kinda looking forward to heading back to Lincoln though. I miss my friends, for they are awesome.

That's all for now. I have 5th level to reach!

Arrival

Welp, I made it to Oregon safe and sound - my flight yesterday was pretty tolerable, and I managed to all but finish Wizard's First Rule while I was flying - yay! So now I'm here at my aunt's apartment (making use of her high-speed internet connection), and we just spent the day running around Portland buying groceries and books. I'll make a better post about that later tonight after dinner, but for now, just updating everyone that I'm alive in Oregon and having a nice relaxing vacation. :) More later! Expect Pictures!

Games and Fantasy

So sleep has been going horribly this week, mostly due to D&D and karaoke, the usual suspects. But things are developing well in my nerdy little life. Like I finally got Starcraft from my roommate, which I've been inspired to play since Jim got a Starcraft II Beta-Key Monday night (anyone else jealous?) and my laptop has stopped being grouchy. I haven't played an RTS in forever, so it's taking a while to get used to the controls. But it's a lot of fun, and will give me a good game to play when I leave for my vacation tomorrow.

Not that I'll be gaming much. Yesterday I got to choose my own paper topic in my 400 level writing class, so I'm going to be writing my paper on the cliches and stereotypes commonly found in Fantasy literature, with a focus on authors who embrace and defy them. So now I'm reading Wizard's First Rule for a class.

I win. Epically.

So I'll be reading that on the plane, along with x-wing books. The flight back will most likely be taken up with playing Pokemon, as the new game comes out early next week (I am so excited, you have no idea). That and all the other perks of vacation are on the horizon, like sleeping a lot and watching Torchwood DVDs and visiting family.

But that's late tomorrow. Today I still have latin to get through. And then there's karaoke, where James and I will sing a rendition of A Whole New World that will probably be pretty bad, since it's too high for both of us. But the whole point is to have fun really, so it'll be okay. I also have to clean my room so it's fit for habitation, and pack.

Busy Wednesday is busy.

I'm off to read more Goodkind. And also browse the WoW Wiki some more. Because I am a loser.

The gaming, the gaming

So I haven't had the opportunity to update since Thursday, and things have changed considerably since then. Like my D&D campaign not meeting because one of my players had to work later than expected and another needed to get up early Saturday morning. So I spent my Friday in the best way: playing Halo with Jim (which I sucked at, but that's because I've never played Halo before. True story), ate an awesome dinner and then spent the evening playing DDO, which went well except for the part where I kept getting disconnected. I have no idea why, but it happened, and it sucked. But I survived, and got to kill a lot of kobolds, which was excellent.

Saturday also went well; The company of heroes attempting to stop the Red Hand of Doom fought several nasty beasties and managed to survive despite lots of near-death experiences (Both Chris and Jim got pretty close to dead at various points).

And we are currently entering into I think our seventh or eighth hour of Amy's campaign. We have been playing for hours and are currently fighting a crowd of wights and a Beholder. I have class in seven and a half hours. We are nowhere near done with this fight.

I will try to blog more tomorrow, but expect to be completely and utterly incoherent and exhausted, as I have nine thirty class, three hours of work, and then two-thirty class. If exhaustion continues, I might skip latin, because I have to read a book and write a paper tomorrow. And go to a reading. And email my group with my notes.

Yeah. We should have finished this session two hours ago. We're idiots. But DAMN is playing D&D until the wee hours fun. It's absolutely fantastic. I adore this campaign, and the Torchwood / Dark Knight / Lord of the Rings soundtrack in the background is doing WONDERS for the mood.

I'm gonna go plink away at a beholder now. Wish me luck.

Campus wi-fi hates me

So I'm at work again on a Thursday night. I'm using one of the work computers because campus wi-fi keeps bugging up, which is very frustrating when one is trying to play DDO and you get kicked off the server. Its okay though, since I'm not playing with anyone at the moment (Jim has raid in WoW and Chris works until nine) and as much as I wanted to help the Waterworks PUG I knew I'd probably get dropped off the wi fi again. And I was.

Curses.

So now I'm blogging and hoping the wireless will stop being all angry. I'll give it one more shot, and then probably give up on DDO until I get home. I got invited out, but exhaustion and carlessness have caused me to decline. As much fun as dancing and/or drinks at Old Chicago sounds, I need to save money, and it's cheaper to stay home and quest. Not in the least because I'm almost to level four and the internet won't freak out on me at home.

In other news, the first session of my D&D campaign is tomorrow night. I've been working on the encounters and let me tell you, I'm excited. I think I'm going to have a lot of fun with this group, and hopefully they will have a lot of fun with me too. Yay for a weekend filled with D&D :)

Finally, I'm putting together a book list for my trip to Oregon. I plan on doing a little shopping while I'm out there (since I'll be in Portland, home of Powells, my favorite bookstore in all the world), so right now the list involves Wizard's First Rule, Wedge's Gamble and The Kryptos Trap. I hope to pick up some more Sword of Truth books out there for cheap. :3

Oh, and I got my new power cable for Miranda! My big laptop is now capable of being portable once again! This brings me no end of joy and happiness, and it also means I can run videogames on graphics settings that don't suck horribly!

Screw it, if the internet refuses to fix itself, I'm going to play some Diablo II. Now that I have juice in my computer, I can run my Necromancer through Act III of Nightmare without hideous lag! Yay! :D

Drinking Water is Important Kids

It's been a few days since I've updated, and I apologize. School and exhaustion kind of ate me alive. They still are of course - last night at Tuesday Karaoke I decided to go with the theme for the night and entertain the bar with my rendition of The Real Slim Shady (which I can do from memory - anyone wants proof and next time I'll videotape it). It went great, but it left me extremely dehydrated, and I did not drink nearly enough water to counteract the effects. Thus, my day has been spent stumbling from class to class in an exhausted stupor.

The rest of the week has been okay though. Lots of DDO time logged (Jim and I have been farming Stormreach quests for tasty loot, and I've been killing kobold after kobold with glee), and I have decided that oozes are the worst thing ever and I hope they all die horribly forever.

I've also been watching Chuck again, since I had a moment of weakness last night and bought season one at Best Buy, then watched a bunch of it last night (before passing out in a dehydrated blob).

The rest of the week is looking pretty good. The Undergrad Writing competition deadline is Friday, so I have one story to finish and another to tweak before then.

I've also signed up for Script Frenzy again this year (write 100 pages in 30 days starting April 1st), so I'm going to attempt writing a TV show script. More on that closer to the time, I'm still working out the details.

So yeah. Writing projects and school are piling up, gaming and Chuck are filling my free time and Friday is the first session of my D&D campaign! :) Life is good. I'm dizzy and tired, but life is good.