Rants, Raves & Reviews!

Table of Contents

Busy day today, including another chapter in Second Life. I also changed the description for Second Life on RoyalRoad to see if it encourages more people to take a peek. My ranking is #9990 today, placing me in the top 10K. I can’t remember what it was the other day; I think it was 97??. It’s OK I am in the top third of authors with only 31 chapters published. A little conflict in chapter 34, though I think that 35 will have what my son is waiting for in it. 😉

I need to finish the changes to my character for Thursday’s game and decide what I want to be if I stay in Sunday’s game. The venue was uncomfortable, so I will have to remember to take a pillow in two weeks.

I also need to do some grocery shopping, so I’m going to take my iPad and play on the couch.

Sorry, so busy I haven’t even been able to add chapters on Second Life. Finally caught up and posted a new one today!

Going to play a new pathfinder game tomorrow, uses Roll20 at the table. Done right, it will eliminate the need for minis and maps in a public venue. I’m going to play a pregen because the invite came late on Friday night, and I just didn’t have time to dedicate to creating a character in time for the game. I may work on one during the week or keep the pregen. I don’t know yet; I’ll post whatever I decide.

I had to spend some time cleaning and organizing the garage too. I need to do more. The weather has cooled enough that I can work on my outstanding projects and get my Christmas gifts made!

I, like most other people, hate the DMV. You would think that in this day and age, it would be simple to get your vehicle title taken care of. Holy smokes, what a high waste of time today was since I now have to go back next week just to finish the process. Ugh.

I think I have decided to make these entries at lunch. Sometimes my evenings get skewed and I don’t get to follow my full routine. Sunday and Monday night both were very late and I just couldn’t justify spending the time to post when I was already looking at less than five hours of sleep.

On another note, I am kind of frustrated with how many anime stories are never finished. For the most part you either get a single season or you get a never-ending web novel experience. There are exceptions, however, that’s what they are – exceptions. Since funding and approval to continue is so infrequent I think the industry should approach each season as a complete story, if the demand is there then create a sequel. Work on getting approval for the bigger stories that need more than one season up front, instead of leaving us hanging. Or run the story as a manga first, and go to anime if the fan base is there.

I’ve been messing around with HubSpot, trying to see if it was going to simplify anything for me. Nope. Free is very limited, and the 1st level of the paid version only gives me one blog – I’m a multi-blog (or at least category) kind of guy. Oh well, there’s lots more fish in the sea, so I’ll keep on fishing!

Chapter 30 for Second Life was posted today. It’s a nice milestone. We’re currently three chapters ahead of RoyalRoad, and more just keep pouring out of me!

I wonder if Pearl Harbor survivors, eleven years later, felt the same way that 9/11 survivors due today. It’s been about 81 years since Pearl Harbor, and there’s almost nobody left who survived the event. It’s now mostly a military holiday where servicemen are mandated to participate. For 9/11 the trama is fading a little and new events are overshadowing it. Was the press as pushy then as it is today? Does everybody just want to let it go? Teenagers don’t feel its impact the same way adults do. It’s becoming a generational tragedy, like Pearl Harbor, instead of a modern event.

I missed a few days and spent most of today at the hospital, passing a kidney stone. #15 isn’t any easier than #1, other than I know what to expect during the process. Most of the reason I missed a few journal entries is that my OCD kicked in, and I had to read some books; Luck’s Holdings, Battle Mage Farmer (1 & 2), The Hedge Wizard, Greymantle Chronicles 1-3, and Wizard’s Tower. Some of them are new authors for me, and they were worth the read. I have to say that I have enjoyed The Ten Realms up until book 12. For some reason, I just can’t get into it. Maybe that’s why all of the others, a break from it, and then maybe its appeal will return.

I posted new chapters in Second Life, and it’s still fun writing it. So many things in my head that just haven’t made it to the page yet – so keep reading!

Grunge survived another day! Players around the table learned that Grunge really is the First Dwarven Druid, over 4,000 years old and reincarnated 732 times. Things got a little dicey, but he didn’t drop unconscious for the first game session since I started; it ended with 6hp! Guess I have to post some adventure stories for him!

Missed a few entries this week due to insomnia and then late nights at work. I finished my character, Zane, and his familiar Tails, for the bi-weekly Saturday campaign I’ll start this week. The person I’ve been working with to get the character ready to play won’t be at the session due to a work conflict. So I’ll have to meet them later. It’s a little challenging to do some of these things via discord. Just like email, there’s no body language or tone to go with the words, so it’s too easy for both parties to bias the text with their interpretation. That makes misunderstandings occur, and sometimes they are much harder to resolve because there may be content that would have been added verbally that is too cumbersome to type. Patience and kindness in all things to smooth the way. Tomorrow is another session with Grunge!