The Ten Blue Budgies Find The One Ring

…and then trade it away for a cuttlefish bone.

Wow, was it ever rainy and windy and stormy here last night! I’m surprised that the trees stayed standing and the power stayed on. Unfortunately, it was not windy enough to blow the weeds out of my garden.

I was too tired last night to continue with my frenzied straightening up of boxes. How tired was I? I was in bed by 9:30. That’s about 2-3 hours earlier than I usually go to bed. I slept like a hibernating grizzly and this morning I’m my old peppy self. Tonight, I will once again face off against many boxes of stuff.

And now, time for brekky.

We Only Like The Nice Monkeys

…not the evil monkeys

I know what yer thinkin’: “Gee, I wonder how the weekend goeth for Doc & Grace?”

Well, it goeth like this: Saturday was pretty lazy except for Spring Curryfest 2006 (which went very well indeed, tho I was forced to use beef instead of lamb) and my 2 hours of sitting in the driveway drilling holes in #10 cans and them wiring them together so as to make circular planters consisting of 7 cans each. Made 3 of them, so I’ve got cheap planters for 21 herbs/strawberry plants/bunches of carrots. Grace spent Saturday washing dishes, doing computer stuff and watching the Olympics. speaking of which, I drank Molson lager in honor of the Canadian men’s curling team taking home the gold. Man, those fellas were a deadeyed accurate bunch, eh?

So far, Sunday has seen Grace doing more computer stuff (including getting an appraisal on my dad’s 1946 Martin guitar, which my mom wants to sell. If our preliminary research is right, it should fetch a few thousand dollars from a collector.

Mostly, I’ve been straightening up and consolidating some of the many MANY boxes of stuff we have. Sweet Chocolate Coated Jesus, we have a bunch of stuff. As in: 3 boxes of maps, tour guides and stuff from our vacations…at least 5 boxes (so far) of gaming related stuff from various cons…2 boxes of assorted magazines…a box full of old bills…a box full of assorted cardstock minis and printed out dungeon tiles…and so many boxes of paperback books that I’m thinking I should just say “fuck it” and open a used book store.

No gardening today, as it has been getting cloudier and cooler and more likely to rain by the hour. With luck, next weekend will be better.

And now, it’s time for a game of Dungeoneer with My Sweet Little Chicken Enchilada Of Passion…and then some writing…and more box sorting!

The fun never stops.

Crazy Hot Rock & Roll Daddy

…with a bad urge to boogie

You’re probably wondering why I called you all here. Well…

Gaming Stuff

I’m finding myself all taken up with the writing fever. Mostly, as usual, this writing is for personal use…BUT…it could have some potential for sale…SO…I’m not gonna say much about it…BUT…a few of you will be getting copies of it to read/play/send me feedback on. More on this as it shapes up.

The Kingdom Building Game is, I fear, almost to the point where I can’t do turns in less than a month. Not only are the details growing, but there is about to be a bigass bunch of PC to PC and PC to NPC interaction, which will seriously boost the complexity factor. So, to my players, get ready for 4-5 weeks between turns.

I’ve decided to go ahead and pre-reg for Conquest Sac, even tho I’m going to GM there. Gotta support the local con in it’s first year and all that. But they only get my money up front this one time. And that free t-shirt had better look good:)

Speaking of Conquest Sac, I’m thinking that some of us locals need to do some party planning. Can’t have a proper con without a party or two, now can we?

Gardening Stuff

About half of the seeds I started have popped up. The peas are going like gangbusters and the dill, fennel, squash and lone tomato seedling are doing well. This weekend, I’ll start some more seeds and prepare the various garden beds. I may even buy a few flowers to plant and get a bit more color out there.

Other Stuff

I’m not much for sports, but Grace likes to watch the Olympics, so we have been recording and watching big bunches of it. So, am I the only one who finds curling to be almost hypnotic? We sit and watch every bit of the rock sliding action, despite the fact that, at it’s heart, curling is basically just a game of marbles.

Spring Curryfest 2006 will arrive at Chez Cross a touch early this year. Like, this weekend. This time out, we’re talking Lamb Curry, baby. MmmmmMmmmm!

Also on the cooking front, the February edition of Iron Chef Aslin Way is way late. I think I’ll send the Iron Wife out on Sunday to buy the Mystery Ingredient. Then, on Monday, I’ll once again attempt to win the hearts of the common folk with my mad culinary skillz.

And now, off to my regular session in Dr. Yen’s EZ Bake oven, then work.

Mrs. Wangdoodle Gets Down And Funky

…she’s a disco sex machine

Well, my little tuna salads, DunDraCon is over and we got home about 1:30 this afternoon. It was a fun con, tho not as fun as in previous years. This is entirely due to my gaming malaise and my general cranky old fartyness, not the actual way the con is run. SIGH. I really need something to snap me out of this gaming related funk I’ve been in for the past few years.

And now, off to bed. Next con report in about 6-7 weeks, when I do ConQuest Sac.

Curse Of The Werevole

…It’ll take him about a month, but he WILL kill ya

Ok, so I’m reading the Con Quest Sac message group and I see two things about the con that bug me.

Thing 1: They apparently hold their Flea Market at midnight. Midnight…for what will be a first time, probably fairly small, con? I’m not impressed by this.

Thing 2: They want GMs to pre-reg, GenCon style, then get reimbursed the $35.00 Pre-reg fee at the con. This bothers me greatly, since I much prefer the DunDraCon mode of, “run a game, get in free, no money changes hands”. I’m now debating what I shall do…

1: Pay the pre-reg and trust them.
2: Say “fuck running games” and just go to the con as a non GM, registering when I get there.
3: Not pre-reg, but still leave my games on the GM list and see what they do when I show up.

I’m leaning heavily towards #3. We shall see…especially after I hear a few con reports from Con Quest NW.

Anime…Anime Not

…ya never can tell about that Ani

Not a hell of alot to report from DunDraCon today. Watched some anime, bought a deck of Dungeoneer cards and a couple of new game boards for both Kill Dr. Lucky and Save Dr. Lucky (sold in the aptly named “Dr. Lucky Ambivalence Pack”), played in a short but fun game of “Monster Island”, chatted with a few folks, took a nap, ate pizza and Oreos.

Grace has decided that she is going to skip the next few DunDracons. The hotel beds don’t agree with her back (we are both spoiled by our Select Comfort bed at home), there aren’t many games she is interested in and she could better use the time at home.

In a similar vein, I have decided that I’m going back to my long term habit of leaving the con on Sunday afternoon instead of staying until Monday. It’ll save me money and I’ll still get to do the best days of the con.

And now, I’m off to watch more anime.

Young Gaming Geeks In Love

…in love with dice and games, that is.

Well, I’d love to say that this years DunDraCon is a magical festival of incredibleness, but in point of fact, it’s pretty much just the same great gaming con it has been for the last 30 years. No really huge changes, good or bad.

Last night I ran my TOON game, as usual, and it was fun and wacky and everybody loved it. Then, like a dummy, I stayed up until damned near 3 in the morning yakking with various members of the Great Tribe Of Roleplaying.

Today, I sold off a bunch of games in the flea market. Made a pretty fair amount of money off of them, and only spent $5.00 of it in the Dealer’s Room (I bought 5 DunDraCon 30th anniversary 6 sided dice). The rest of the day I chatted with folks, napped, ate, watched anime and goofed off. In a few minutes, I shall go partake af a cold brew or three.

Grace played in a Changeling game that she enjoyed. She also bought “High Bohn” and “Bohnaparte”, both supplements for the very fun card game, “Bohnanza”.

And now, Gentle Reader, beer awaits. More con bloggage tomorrow.