2013 Resolutions (and 2012 Resolutions)

With this post, I'm meeting my goal of four posts per month (including my Minecraft blog).  Speaking of which, I think that I'll resolve to continue making four posts per month.
Additionally, I'm considering a weight loss/exercise resolution, but I'm not sure exactly what to make it.  If I make a weight loss goal, then I'll need a target number, which will need to be within reason (I'm thinking 250), and I'll need to make sure that I'm on course for it.  If I make an exercise goal, then I'll need to be fairly specific in my requirements and exceptions.  I currently tend to exercise on a Thursday/Sunday schedule, since that ties in w/ my work & play schedule, though I'm considering adding Friday or Saturday, with the specific day depending on which day I'm out that weekend.  This one still needs fleshed out; maybe I'll post in the new year once I've gotten it sorted.

Xmas Haul 2012

I thought that I'd go ahead and tell everyone what I got for Xmas this year.
Apparently, getting directions the old fashioned way (i.e., from Google Maps) just won't do, so somebody got me one of those in-car GPS navigation doodads.
I also got some anime:  Rozen Maiden: Overture & part of Monster (it's a long one).
I also got a hard copy of Godlike, which was apparently difficult to procure.  I know that I haven't seen it around, but I guess that the guys who make it haven't really been pushing to get it out there, either.  I can't wait to get some time to read the rules in more depth and also read up on the setting in more detail.
I also got a new robe, some gift cards, and some mints.
Overall, it was a good Xmas on the receiving end.  I hope that everyone else got stuff that they wanted, too! *<:-D

Status Update September 2012

Work is about to get pretty crazy, basically for the next two weeks.  My twitter followers are likely to hear me complain about lost parts of my feed, as twitter isn't very good at maintaining a timeline longer than 11 hours.  There are some things that need to get done soon, and my lack of free time is going to force them ahead, though all non-essential functions are obviously still subject to my whims, as my creation is to my muse.  

I'll also say this now:  Barring some highly unusual circumstance, I won't be doing NaNoWriMo this year.  The idea that I had won't be served by NaNoWriMo any more, and I haven't had time to flesh out anything else.  I've learned from previous years that I basically won't be able to finish a novel without a thorough outline, so this year's is at a loss.  I'll use the time instead to catch up on a few personal things, and also to work on a few other creative endeavors.  

Oh, and there's going to be Halloween and Thanksgiving and eventually Xmas and stuff.  At least a few of those require me to plan ahead of time.  Buh.  

Recent and Near-Future Reading (and Writing)

As you might know from my most recent post, I just finished A Storm of Swords.  This puts me at least a whole season ahead of HBO's Game of Thrones, which should help me to avoid spoilers.  Now, I can get back to the business at hand:  reading planetary romance, starting with the John Carter of Mars books.
... except that my plans have changed.
You see, I set out to read planetary romance as a form of research in preparation for NaNoWriMo, but my thoughts on the novel that I was to write have transformed it from throw-away adventure into magnum opus. It feels as weird as it sounds.  Anyway, that means that I'm shelving it until I get more practice at this whole novel thing.  So, what do I do now?
Thanks to cthulhuchick on twitter, I've discovered that one John Maddox Roberts wrote a series of mystery novels that take place in ancient Rome.  Throw-away comment about vampires in ancient Rome?  You're becoming a throw-away novel about vampires in ancient Rome.
New problem:  I know nothing about ancient Rome, and it's about the end of August.  This is not enough time to learn about ancient Rome and fully outline a novel!  What do I do?
I'm basically looking at two options now:
1.  I re-attempt last year's novel.
2.  I skip NaNoWriMo this year.
Unless I get a story idea about a subject with which I'm already familiar, these are my two options, and they're both looking about equal right now.

So, my reading schedule, at the moment, is some SPQR, some Barsoom, and some H.P. Lovecraft.

Briefly, Thoughts on Pokémon Conquest

I recently managed to get a copy of Pokémon Conquest.  It took this long because it apparently sold quickly, and because I didn't look that hard for it.  (I could have scoured several stores looking for a copy, but I just went with what was convenient.  After all, I don't exactly have a great need of yet another video game to play.)
My initial impressions are that, overall, I'm enjoying it.  It has a trait, though, that, for my purposes, is a slight drawback:  I actually need to pay attention to what's going on, which means that it's bad for multitasking.  I mean, I could figure out what has happened once my turn rolls around, but it's just much easier to have been watching the whole time.  Otherwise, though, it's pretty good as a light turn-based tactical game that features pokémon.
It does have an odd reversal, though:  Each pokémon only has one attack available, but it has up to three potential abilities (of which it can still only have one at a time).  This is quite different from the main games, where a pokémon has one of either one or two abilities (or sometimes three, once hidden abilities get involved), but will usually have access to at least a dozen attacks just from leveling up, and will usually know four at a time.  This doesn't detract from gameplay, though, so I'll classify this as not-a-problem.

Defenders of the Realm

I recently got a chance to play Defenders of the Realm, and I'd like to share my thoughts briefly.

The gameplay is quite fun. I tend to enjoy challenging cooperative games, and this one doesn't disappoint.  The base game comes with a variety of adventurers, and there are several adventurer expansion packs.  Most characters have simple abilities that still add a lot to the game.  For example, I forget the Dwarf's first power, but his second power lets him re-roll failed dice against dragonkin - the hardest monsters to kill - and his third power reduces his damage per turn by 1, which, among other things, allows him to stay in a spot with 1 enemy at the end of his turn without taking any damage at all, so that he can finish them off on the next turn.  I had a lot of fun playing the Eagle Rider and questing all over the board.
Pro tip:  The movement mechanics of the cards are a lot easier to understand once you realize that the top-left symbol always ignores color.  (Really, the portal mechanics were the most confusing.)  Between the character variety and the quests, there's plenty of replay value in the base game alone.

Current Reading

Since I blogged about something that I read recently, I thought that I might blog about what I'm planning to read in the near future.  So, here we go.

• A Clash of Kings - I've been wanting to start into A Song of Ice and Fire for a while now.  Now that I've read A Game of Thrones, I want to see what happens next.  This will also help give me a better buffer against spoilers, which only really became an issue with that HBO series; I don't know whether it will press into the territory of the later books, but I'd rather be safe about it.  
• A Princess of Mars - This is mostly because I've recently acquired an interest in the planetary romance genre.  Most references to that genre seem to relate the Barsoom series as among its defining works, so I thought that I'd give it a whirl.  
• Dune - I saw this classified as planetary romance, as well, and I've been meaning to read it for a long time, anyway.  
• a collection of brothers Grimm fairy tales - At one point, I picked up three books of fairy tales.  I've finished two of them, but I still need to read this one.  Of course, original fairy tales from the brothers Grimm are also of interest to me, anyway.  
• the complete works of H.P. Lovecraft - This has been on my long-term to-read list for quite a while.  Discovering The H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast gave me a new motivation, and also an order (chronologically by date written), though I've fallen behind.  

There are a great many things that I mean to read that did not make this list, of course.  Off the top of my head, there's The Colour of Magic, a Calvin & Hobbes collection that I picked up, Sandman, the first few Wheel of Time books, re-reads of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and those are just books that I own.  These, though, are my short-term items.

Sudden Short Story 27

Dials and switches covered the controls.  Gauges gave readings that had meaning only to the being that operated them.  The patient, strapped to a flat, metallic surface, summoned the strength to ask, "You're going to kill me, aren't you?"
"I assure you that whatever legends you've heard about me have probably been quite twisted by time," came the reply, "I help people, and humans especially."
"Is that why you refer to yourself as a healer?  Do you honestly believe any of that?"
He turned a knob and attached a canister of fluid to a port as he replied, "I know that you're upset now, but you'll see.  You're the last one, you know.  In just a few moments, there will no longer be any humans with any sort of prejudice at all."
"Well, doesn't that sound just lovely?" asked the patient, sarcasm not the only thing dripping from him in this makeshift medical laboratory.  "When you put it like that, it sounds like you're not killing me at all, and certainly not leaving my body to some shell of a man who happens to share the same memories."
The Doctor smirked at this, and approached.  "You make it sound as if I don't know anything about bodies and memories.  I'll have you know that this--"
"Twenty-seventh," replied the patient, silencing his would-be executioner.  "You were going to say that this is your twenty-seventh incarnation, weren't you, Doctor?"
His face blanched at the interruption, and a moderate frown crept across his face.  "Well, you seem to know more about me than you let on.  You've even kept count.  And how did you manage that?"
A smug grin snuck its way onto the patient's face, but was quickly squelched.  "Surely a man of your experience knows that there's more than one way to travel through time.  Let's just say that we got here the old-fashioned way."
"'We'?  Who exactly is 'we'?"
"Never mind, Herr Monster.  The point is that I've served as more than adequate bait for you," and with that, the patient slipped out of consciousness.
"Hey.  HEY!"  The Doctor went back to the console, adjusted some knobs to reduce the sedative effect, and returned.  "What did you mean by all that?!"
"Ah," said the patient, sluggishly, "Anger.  How characteristic that is of your fifth, tenth, seventeenth, eighteenth,...."  He passed out again, the mad scientist grabbing his most important tool and running off.  He returned promptly, even angrier than before.  "The TARDIS, where is it?!"
"Should I tell you?  You'll find out eventually, but will you be able to do anything about it if you find out too soon?"
"Don't you dare think that you can out-clever me, I'm the cleverest one of all!"  He began a casual pace.  "You said that you were the perfect bait, so this must be part of some elaborate trap.  Well, never mind that.  Nobody can keep me from the TARDIS for long, for I have a TARDIS key!"  He produced the key from a pocket, holding it tightly in his grip.  He stick it horizontally in the air, waited a moment, and then withdrew it, puzzled.
"It's a good thing for you that you came back in as quickly as you did.  You forgot to count the stars, but I can count them from here.  Herr Monster, would you like to know why I was on an abandoned planet when you found me, or have you figured it out by now?"
"There aren't any stars, are there?  You've somehow sent us to an empty universe.  But, if that's so, then you'll die, too, freezing to death with me.  But, why?  For the lives of us both, why?"
"You know, I'd like to explain about how it all started when you started systematically 'correcting' people for what you saw as their flaws - around thirteen or so - but really, we had to be sure, you know?  So, that rumbling sound just now will be Osterhagen system."

Sudden Short Story 26

"I propose an experiment that requires you to not assimilate us for a limited time."
The approaching machinery came to a halt, but maintained its poise, ready to reach out and take the remaining humans.  Their apparent leader loosed the catch on a dead-man switch, preparing to drop it at a moment's notice.
"Demonstrate that you have such a proposal," spoke a thousand metal voices, "and it will be considered."
"I hypothesize that our minds are better left separate than forced together, because it is in this way that our creativity flourishes.  Among us are painters, sculptors, poets, authors, and other artists.  I believe that, though the works would not be produced quite as rapidly as in the collective, the quality will be unmatched.  These works will be finer than whatever you manage to create.  Note that this experiment can only happen before you perform the irreversible reaction of assimilating us."
The machine was silent for a moment, as the collective that had overtaken Earth's civilization considered this.  It spoke again:  "Your posture and tone, as well as the device that you hold, suggest that you intend to threaten us if we do not intend to comply with your proposal.  What is your threat?"
Speaking directly, the leader said, "I have created the Chandrasekhar Device, which will destroy the Earth-Moon System if activated."
"That is impossible.  There is insufficient matter in the Earth-Moon System to create electron-degenerate matter."
"It's neutron-degenerate matter, actually, and it doesn't need to be sustainable.  Among the gravitational waves, the tidal forces, the radiation of collapse, the radiation of expansion, and that from the newly-created radioactive elements, neither life-form nor electronic will be able to survive.  All that will remain will be a three-puddle of molten rock and dust."
"That is still impossible.  Neutron-degenerate matter lacks charge, and therefore cannot be contained by any device.  Such a device would not be able to create a sufficient concentration to damage anything but itself."
"That would be true if it created the material within itself.  However, I have devised a system of quantum entanglement to allow the containment to exist outside of the device, which means that I am no longer constrained by my device's mass or volume.  I was able to use a simpler version of the same technique to transmit the signal from this switch, meaning that the Faraday cage that you've no doubt constructed around this facility will do you no good."
Another pause occurred.  The machinery receded slightly.
"We would be willing to give you one year for your experiment.  However, what assurance do we have that you will not destroy this planet anyway if you do not get the result that you want?"
"You have only my word, but you also have my solemn vow that, if you refuse this offer, or if you attempt to come for us before the time is up, then I will destroy this system and everything on it."
The great arm and mouthpiece of the collective began to recede from the facility.
"You have your year.  Use it well."

Pokémon: White Version

Recently, I was reminiscing about my old days playing pokémon.  My ruby version's battery died last year, and I didn't feel like trying to compensate for the lack of time-based events.  Fortunately, as an improvement over Generation II, the game's save data isn't dependent on the battery, so I figured that I wouldn't be at any real loss if I just replace the battery.
But then, I had a realization:  Given that I have my own source of income now, I can just buy the new games, and the system on which to play them.  So, I did.  I've skipped Generation IV altogether and bought myself a Nintendo DSi and Pokémon White and Black versions. I've started playing White version first, because, after some checking (done before the purchase, actually), I found that White version has the White Forest, where some pokémon can be found, whereas the Black City (Black version's counterpart) doesn't have any.
Before this next part, you should realize that, now that I've got the games, I'm trying to minimize how much I look up.  I want to re-experience that initial discovery feeling from back when I played the first games, in the ancient 1990s.  :P
As I've played through, here are some things that I've noticed, in no particular order:

• Based on the intro, there's much more of a JRPG feel to this game.  I mean, I know that Pokémon is from Japan, and that it's considered a VGRPG, but it never really felt like that, y'know?  
• Boy has the beginning of the game ever changed.  Instead of being eased into the idea that this is a world of Pokémon, and eventually being shown a battle and given a choice of Pokémon, it's just:  Here are the starters, pick one.  This doesn't affect my ability to play the game (by the way, I picked Snivy), but I imagine that it could be daunting to a new player (i.e., "What if I pick the wrong one?" stress).  Also, I kind of liked the relaxed pace of the games before.  
• There is a distinct lack of early Pokémon.  I found Patrat and Pidove, and was like, "OK, I got Rattatta and Pidgey, but where's... anything else?"  This game's version of Caterpie/Weedle/Wurmple isn't encountered until after the first gym, which is quite odd.  In fact, it was only thanks to my dogged persistence that I found that I could catch Purrloin, too.  
• Speaking of that, this game seems to be playing more to the gamist players.  There's the really quick start, and the rarity of Pokémon early on, and there are even Heal Balls later on, which are useless if the newly-captured Pokémon is sent to the box (i.e., if you have a full team at the time of capture).  It really seems to play to the type of player who catches the minimum number of Pokémon to beat the Elite Four.  
• TMs can now be used like HMs, and there are at least 98 of them.  What's up with that?  
• Why do I have to navigate terrain in 3D?  This isn't even a 3DS game.  Also, I'm still moving on a grid, so is the experience really that improved?  
• Why did Sewaddle take until level 20 to evolve?  It's this version's Caterpie, so I was expecting level 10 at worst.  
• Why does the Snivy line have hind legs?  It's not like there haven't been snake Pokémon before.  

Well, those are my initial impressions.  Make of them what you will.

Goodbye LEGO Universe, Hello Again Minecraft

So, I gave up Minecraft for NaNoWriMo, and then I stayed away from it up until now because LEGO Universe was ending in just two months.  Well, those two months are up.  I tried connecting to the servers, but couldn't, with text explaining why.  So now I can get back to Minecraft (and also TF2).  I think that the biggest challenge will be remembering what I was going to do.  I remember what I was planning overall, but I'm not sure at what step I was.  For instance, I was working on a runway, but I went over to my other base.  I may have been planning to work on my dry dock.  There's only one thing that I know for sure:  I need more iron!

2012 Resolutions (and 2011 Resolutions)

Well, including this post, I seem to have met my resolution to blog at least thrice per month in 2011.  I'm not exactly in a habit, but I seem to be able to crank them out, though they do seem to get loaded toward the end of the month.  I think that that's due to two factors.  One is that the deadline is the end of the month, so of course, as it approaches, I've got to get those shoved in there somewhere.  The other, though, is that, usually, I'm doing stuff during the first two weekends of the month.  It's that silly leaving-the-house-and-socializing stuff.
Anyway, I think that I'll continue this into 2012, so you can expect 3 blog posts per month next year, too.  I'm considering, though, making a separate resolution of making 4 blog posts per month.  Basically, 4 per month will be a goal, but if I miss it, then I'll still hit 3 per month.  If not for having full-time employment (Did I ever mention that?), I'd probably make 4 per month my only goal, but my life keeps pretty busy, and I don't want to overwhelm myself.  So, we'll see how that goes.
Happy New Year!

Vampires?

Well, I didn't manage to win NaNoWriMo this year, but I've learned some things, and hopefully I can do better next year.  Speaking of that, one thing that I'm considering doing is something about vampires.  The main reason for this is that vampires have been getting some odd treatments lately, most notably in the form of Twilight, and I thought that it might be nice to take vampires back on the ancient magical beings route, rather than the mutant/nanotech/retroviral stuff or the, y'know, sparkly romantic stuff.
One idea - not thoroughly developed, mind you - had to do with vampires in the Roman senate - or, since they would probably meet during the day, manipulating the Roman senate from afar.  Though, if I wanted to do that justice, then I'd have to learn about ancient Roman politics and the like - SPQR and all that.
Whatever it is, I'd like to choose my NaNoWriMo 2012 idea before Xmas, so that I can start researching and outlining and all that.