Blogging Challenge: Characters I Want To Meet

So, I've been participating in (and enjoying) the weekly Blogging Challenge over at Long and Short Reviews. This week's challenge is "Characters I Want To Meet".

I'm... I'm just going to point out that I read a lot of Cosmic Horror. It seems like the kind of thing I ought to mention at this point.

But okay, I mean, not everything I read is unrelenting horror. (Well, outside of the news, anyway.) So let's see...

Gimli. I mean, I'm not saying I'd go hunt Uruk-Hai with the fellow, not without magic or much better armor than I have. My swordsmanship isn't that good, and my archery is... decades out of practice. But a good meal and a few drinks after a long day of battle? Dwarvish hospitality? Absolutely. It'd be fun.

Corwin of Amber. Immortal Prince, able to find his way through the myriad worlds of Shadow, sarcastic bastard, expert swordsman, possible sorcerer, musician and composer. Again, I'd be a lot safer if I stayed out of the black magic and sudden death parts of his adventures, but he'd be a hell of a lot of fun to talk to or have a drink with.

Maskelle, from Martha Wells' standalone novel Wheel of the Infinite. The bitter, cranky, obstreperous Voice of The Adversary, who has to put up with (and take care of) way more shit than she really deserves but does it with a certain bloody-minded style. She'd be very dangerous company to keep, but a hell of a lot of fun to have a drink with.

Kaia Steelflower from Lilith Saintcrow's Steelflower chronicles. A hard-fighting, hard-drinking mercenary-turned-elf-princess who finds herself half-accidentally shepherding a band of unlikely companions... this is someone who knows how to party.

In fact, I'm seeing a distinct theme here. So let's throw in...

Hail Bristol, the gunrunner princess from K.B. Wagers' excellent Indranan War series.

...And then let's just all get together for a cross-genre pub crawl. Hijinks are guaranteed to ensue.

Music: Me Gustas Tu

Manu Chao, with some multilingual quirkiness:

Better!

So, my cunning plan to Get All The Rest this weekend actually went pretty well (despite a couple of interrupted naps), and my immune system appears to be catching up with whatever I've been trying to shake off for the last three weeks. All of which is a fancy way of saying that I'm feeling a lot more energetic and a lot better focused than I have in a while. I might even get some writing done.

(It feels weird to say that, because actually I'm writing all the damned time on one thing or another. It's just the extended, novel-length projects that A. I never seem to make much progress on, and B. I somehow think of as my "real" writing.)

Meanwhile, I went ahead and ordered a pre-packaged Dungeons and Dragons campaign, because I'd really like to play with the boys but I don't have the prep time to design my own campaign. I'd kind of resisted doing that, because it means moving from 3.5 to Fifth Edition; but I've been looking over 5e and I've discovered that I quite like it. It seems both simpler and better organized than the older versions, plus there are a lot of character options that I find really appealing.

Also, y'all, the cat has horrible diarrhea. I mention that because he just dropped the absolute stinkiest poop ever to hit a litter box. We're talking "violates the Geneva convention" here. OMGWTFstink...

Right, buried that. Now to wait for the air to clear. Pardon the digression.

Anyway, there's a ton of stuff going on at work this week, but I'm just going to buckle down and work through it as best I can. A lot of it is new to me, so it's taking longer than it would if I were more... well... if I actually knew what I was doing, TBH. But here we are anyway. I went ahead and applied for a Project Manager position, because I feel like if my Ur-Boss is going to triple my workload I should get some kind of corresponding pay increase; we'll see where, if anywhere, that goes. If it doesn't go, well, there are some other options I can look at.

TL/DR: Work is busy-busy-busy, it's been too long since I've played/run D'n'D, Elderly Cat is nightmarishly stinky, but I'm finally starting to feel better.

How's your Monday looking?

Sick Again

So, whatever this is that I've been trying to shake off for the last two weeks finally caught up with me yesterday, and I left work at mid-morning and went back home and slept, then went to bed relatively early last night as well. (Ten o'clock is relatively early, right?) Woke up with my first alarm, decided there was no way I was getting out of bed yet, and went back to sleep until my second alarm. Which means the boys got to sleep in until 6:30, which is going to make it real hard to get them up for school on Monday, but apparently that's where we're at. I did at least get them down to bed on time last night, so if we can keep that up that'll be something.

Meanwhile I'm back at work, and while I don't feel like I'm about to collapse (that was yesterday), I'm still feeling... well... I hope somebody got the number of that truck, mainly. Tired, a little sore, still with the occasional bit of upper-respiratory cough and the low energy, plus the swollen lymph nodes in my throat. Energy is... okay. Like, I shouldn't move too fast, but if I can keep it slow and steady I should be able to get through the day. That could change, though; we'll see.

Meanwhile I finished re-playing the first two Infamous games, and I've started back into Bloodborne. (Because apparently I'm in the mood to die a lot? Yeah, looks like it.) Writing is basically at a standstill -- I had that lovely little epiphany back at the first of the month, but I haven't had the time or energy or focus (mostly energy and focus) to pursue it.

With any luck, I can take it very easy this weekend and recuperate enough to get my energy back. Next week we're back on schedule, but I think that'll actually make things easier as long as we're all reasonably healthy by then. Take care of yourselves, my friends.

Parenting: Crickets

Things I never thought I'd hear myself say before becoming a parent, part 7,654: "I need to remember to pick up some more crickets on the way home."

Weekly Blogging Challenge: A Day In My Life

It's Wednesday, and for the moment that means taking part in the Weekly Blogging Challenge. This week's prompt is "A Day In My Life".

Y'all, a day in my life is pretty boring. If it's a weekday, then it's wake up, wake everybody else up, desperately wish I could go back to sleep, get some food ready for the boys, take a shower, coax the boys into finally eating their breakfast, coax the boys into getting dressed, then head off to work for a full day of doing improbable things on computers. Then I come home, eat dinner, put the boys through their interminable bedtime routine, and utterly fail to find any writing time.

If it's a weekend or a holiday, then my day is a semi-random mix of housecleaning, video games, and reading, punctuated by meals at odd hours, and an extended break designed to Get The Boys Outside And Make Them Exercise because they're bouncing off the walls and making us crazy. (I will note again -- and I am not at all bitter about this -- that writing time does not figure prominently into this version of the Typical Day either.)

So, y'know, let's not discuss a day in my life. Instead, let's look at a day in the life of my current protagonist, who's in the care of a nameless order running a remote monastery which serves as a sort of finishing school for children of power. Half the point of placing your child in this monastery is to keep them hidden, so naturally the nameless order does not make glossy, full-color brochures describing their curriculum and the natural advantages of their scenic location, but if they did it might sound something like this:

Welcome to the nameless monastery! Located deep in the Grediv mountains, in an unnaturally temperate plateau atop a remote mountain, the monastery is home to select members of the nameless order who will keep your child safely hidden from whatever hereditary enemies, political rivals, or dark mystical forces might otherwise threaten them.

During your child's stay, our brothers and sisters will instruct them in all the skills and knowledge they need to survive -- and thrive -- in the future. A typical day in the monastery might look something like this:

Pre-dawn: Rise, make your ablutions, and pull on your robe.

Dawn: Eat in the dining hall. On most occasions, the fare here is plain but good.

First hour: Exercise. A healthy body is important even to those with power. Running, climbing, swimming, dance, and gymnastics are all typical uses for the hour of exercise.

Second hour: A study of the basics of governance, including the customs, languages, and histories of various lands and peoples; the basis of taxation and expenditure; and the nature and application of laws.

Third and Fourth Hour: Outdoor activities, including riding, woodcraft, various sorts of hunting, sailing, rowing, navigation, and survival.

Lunch: This hour is devoted not only to eating, but also to resting and socializing.

Sixth Hour: Speech. Students will build a solid basic vocabulary, and develop a strong understanding of grammar in order to create their own phrases and chants for a variety of purposes. Acolytes who are already familiar with the grounding of sorcery will be moved to more advanced and specialized studies, depending on their aptitudes and interests.

Seventh Hour: Combat training, including unarmed, melee, and ranged weapons, with an introduction to small-unit tactics and more general study of tactics and strategy. Depending on the day, this class may be extremely physical or entirely devoted to books, maps, and military theory.

Eighth Hour: Specialized Electives for acolytes whose needs or interests are not covered by the standard activities of the day. This can include topics such as poisons and assassinations, learning an additional language, further studies in sorcery, developing or coping with special talents, the world-doors and their exploration, or the taming and care of birds and beasts.

Ninth Hour: Free time, though the Order strongly advises using it for cleanup, laundry, and basic chores. Your child may well expect to be surrounded by servants for the rest of their life, but they should still know how to take care of themselves if something goes wrong.

Dinner: The evening meal is served in the dining hall, but acolytes are allowed and even encouraged to break off and eat elsewhere, including their own rooms, the smaller tables on the balcony, or the gardens.

Evening: While group activities and entertainment are common, evenings are considered free time. A variety of games and books are available, along with the tools (and training, if needed) for a variety of crafts.

Your child's time in the nameless monastery will not only keep them safe, it will help prepare them to deal with almost any situation. How better to prepare them for the duties and stations they will one day assume?

Yeah, that's what my day should be like.

Stolen!

Me: "Stop! Thief!"

Officer: "What happened?"

Me: "I'm missing an hour! A WHOLE HOUR! It was there when I went to sleep!"

Officer: "..."

Me: "Well?"

Officer: "Fine, I'll put out an APB for the corporeal manifestation of Daylight Savings Time, but I warn you he's a slippery bastard."