Jennerosity

Ok, I figured I’d start doing a list of 5 awesome links each week to spread the link love!  Just a little sampling of what I’ve been checking out and reading this week.

• I am inexplicably drawn to articles that use the word ‘hack’ and when you add ‘Nintendo’ I can’t help but star it in my google reader.  How to hack and supercharge your Nintendo DS (via Lifehacker)
• I’m still (again?) going through a process of decluttering my life from obligations that just don’t fit right now.  So the Unclutterer article on Tips for Reducing Your Commitment to Unwanted Obligations was very timely for me.
• This picture is awesome!
• I signed up for a service to help me keep track of my plans and let others keep track of them too –> Plancast
• And I’m once again tempted by the StoryWonk courses.  The next one starts in September.

My first gaming group is about to start a brand new campaign.  We’re using a world we’ve played in before, just fast-forwarding a bit, and creating  new characters for it.  It’s got me to thinking about the methods I’ve been using to develop characters that I am more interested in and (hopefully) others are too.¹

1. I start with some ‘woo-woo.’ I find that I like to start with something very abstract.  Like a particular quality or quirk that someone might have, and then build out.  If I start out by thinking of the larger role the person has in the group, I tend to get stuck there, and the character lacks a personality.  So, unless I’ve already got a character idea in my head that I’ve been itching to use, I’ll pull a tarot card and see if that gives me any inspiration.  Another thing you could do is go find a horoscope/astrology site and check out today’s readings, and see what tickles your fancy.
2. Reference material. When coming up with a character, sometimes it’s hard not to use a well-known model.  So, at some point, I take my kernel and start to think of famous tv/movie/book characters that shared that trait.  This is good time to brainstorm all the possible ways that this can influence someone and pick which direction feels right for you, the world you’re playing in, and the group of characters you are playing with.  Usually you don’t want to copy a well-known character but it can be good to give you some guidance.
3. Torture. Now that I’ve got some general ideas about who and what your character is like, I then begin to think of ways to make a person’s life more difficult.  The current rule set/setting I am playing in makes this easy, since you have to pick assets and complications for your character.  The assets are easy, so I try not to look at those until I’ve figured out what the complications are.  I also like to frame these in terms of the past and future.  What’s happened in their past that has lead them to a particular place where they would meet their current companions?  What might come up in the future that would bring conflict to a situation?  The whole point of gaming groups is adventure and conflict and often the most memorable and fun times for players come up when that is character driven, instead of story driven.

After going through those basic steps, I’m usually ready at this point to start assigning some numbers, fleshing out details for a backstory, and filling out my character sheet.  Anyone else got any interesting tips for creating an interesting character?

1. I’ve also borrowed a lot of these methods for creating characters for my novels. [↩]

Had our monthly games night last night.  In addition to the usual crew of awesome, we had extra awesome, because our friends brought some of their friends.  And when the friends you have are awesome already, it stands a good chance that their other friends are awesome too!¹  Anyway, in addition to the usual Rock Band and arcade cabinet, we also played some more of my new favourite game: Dominion.

I first heard about the game on one of the GeeksOn podcasts².  I knew right from the start that it was right up our alley.  The game is a card game where you build the deck that you play with throughout the course of the game.  You use your treasure cards to buy land and actions.  You ultimately want to be the player with the most land in the game.  The different action cards are what really spice it up though.  It comes with a large selection³ but then you select 10 to actually play with.  Depending on the cards that are selected and the random draw that each player gets each hand, each game is really different and interesting.  You also have to be adaptable.  There is no single strategy that is going to win every time.

My only (very small) criticism is that it’s only a 4 player game and I hate people being excluded.  However, I also enjoy watching other people play this game much more than our other standard tabletop games, so it isn’t really terrible.  Plus, we will be picking up the Intrigue expansion sooner or later and that’ll essentially let us run 2 games simultaneously.

1. Everyone was so awesome that we gamed until 2am.  It’s been quite a while since I’ve stayed up that late on purpose! [↩]
2. I’m way too lazy to look up the exact show so you’ll just have to listen to all the episodes if you really must know [↩]
3. which you can expand upon by purchasing the expansions [↩]

I haven’t had time yet to process my notes into a proper blog post about it, but here are the 5 big things I learned at WordCamp Vancouver.

• Social bookmarking is important.  I need to look into that some more.
• WordPress = Joyful; Drupal = Dragon Slayer.  As much as the keener in me wants to slay some dragons, the realist¹ realizes that Drupal is definitely NOT for me.
• Asking lots of questions is good for figuring out what you actually should do for your online presence.  Going to apply the questions that Lauren Bacon,² from raised eyebrow,³ shared during her presentation when I make my next attempt at building a website for work.
• Catherine Omega & Tris Hussey are awesome lunch companions and speakers.  They made me fall in love with WordPress 3.0 and some of the new theme options.  The keener in me may even try tinkering with building my own themes.  ((You know, eventually, when I have ‘free’ time :D ))
• WordPress people are the best kind of geeks: friendly, smart, helpful, and generally awesome! (Ok, not NEW knowledge for me, but it still deserves to be said again.))

And, a bonus geek tip for you all . . . the wi-fi hotspot and electrical plug-ins are the geek equivalent of hanging at the bar for meeting new people ;)

1. and lazy person [↩]
2. Who incidentally, has awesome hair [↩]
3. the name makes me giggle and want to wiggle my eyebrows [↩]

Lately I’ve been feeling like I’m stuck on a roller coaster of emotions.  And instead of the damn thing stopping so that I can get off and take a few slow deep breaths, the stupid thing just keeps looping around and around again.  So I decided that I need to take a day, an entire day, just for myself.  A day completely free of outside distractions and commitments.  But, I know myself well enough to understand that if I don’t put my own spiritual commitments there, a ‘plan-free’ day is actually going to turn into a busy day where I do household things or sit in front of a screen all day long.  I don’t want that.

So, I’m planning a little spiritual stay-cation and I thought I’d blog a bit about it and invite you all to join me.  Er . . . well . . . except you shouldn’t actually join me, because I want to be alone that day.  I’ve only just started the planning, so I’m not sure entirely what the agenda will look like.  I do know that the day will start with turning off every phone in the house and that some meditation and journal writing will be a part of it.  Oh, and I also know that it’ll be June 28th.  So mark the day and don’t expect to get any calls, emails, or tweets from me.

Got any ideas, tips, or advice to throw my way?  I’d also love to hear about any stories you have about your spiritual retreat days!

This week was pretty geeky actually . . .

• I got to put up a secret password protected page on my blog¹
• I actually went to a DnD game night without my husband.  I think that’s a first for me!
• We decided that we will be attending PAX in September²
• I downloaded a zen garden onto my iPod Touch³
• I’m going to WordCamp Vancouver tomorrow!  So stoked about it.⁴  Comes with very good timing too as I’m hoping to have another website to work on soon!

There are my geeky 5 things to share on Friday.  What geeky things have you been up to this week?

1. it’s going to be up for only another few days [↩]
2. though we haven’t actually booked our passes or hotel yet, we will be very soon! [↩]
3. I only got the lite version because my replacement credit card STILL has not arrived and with my other one frozen, I can’t upgrade to the paid version. [↩]
4. Except the part where I have to wake up at 6am in order to get there on time. [↩]

Wow, I feel so geeky recommending a non-fiction book, but I really liked it.  My review on Goodreads pretty much says it all.  If you’re a business type person, or just enjoy books on business and networking, then you might want to check it out and read it for yourself.  I do find that some non-fiction tends to drag a bit.  Each chapter tends to follow the same formula and your brain kind of gets overloaded.  But, this one made some pretty good points, kept the stories and examples to a minimum, and spent most of the book telling you WHAT to do, instead of justifying WHY you should do it.

Benevolance’s sister-in-law got engaged last week and it’s had me thinking about romance.  Part of me is quite envious of the story of the engagement.  All the stops were pulled out for this one – champagne, fancy hotel getaway, romantic dinner, rose petals & candlelight.  It sounded like a fairy tale.  But another part of me knows that had this been attempted with me in one of the lead roles, it wouldn’t have felt right.  Because I’m a geek¹.

So, today, this post is really just asking the question . . . What is Geek Romance? Give me your two cents in the comments :)

1. and not a princess [↩]

I broke my Friday blogging trend last week.  I had the flu.  No one seemed to notice.  About the blogging anyway, people noticed that I had the flu.  And her it is a Friday already again.  And I don’t know what to say.  Not just for this particular blog post, but about a lot of things in general.  There’s a lot I WANT to say, but since I was taught to think before I speak, I’ve been caught up in the thinking part and not saying much.

Hmmmm . . . am I being a bit cryptic?  Yes, probably.  But too bad!  This is my blog and I’ll encrypt if I want to!

Do I contradict myself?  Very well, then, I contradict myself; I am large — I contain multitudes.” – Walt Whitman

And there’s a part of me that wants to throw caution to the wind and be raw and honest and brave and rock the boat.  And there’s another part of me that thinks I should just hit the delete button, because no one would probably notice it if I did.

This week on 5 Geek Things For Friday, I thought I’d share a few Geeky things I’d like to do, just for the sake of doing them.

1. Hack someone’s wi-fi. I don’t even have to let anyone else know I did it, but just for my own satisfaction of knowing I could do it.¹

2. Hack our router for improved wi-fi. Which is why I keep saving every lifehacker article that describes different ways of improving your router signal.

3. Watch the LOTR extended editions back to back without breaking for sleep.² Mostly just need a mildly serious flu and/or time to burn to make this happen.

4. Try out all the Altoid tin hacks I keep seeing and saving online.³

5. Read⁴ the entire Wheel of Time series⁵

1. Luckily for me, I have plenty of neighbours within range with secure networks for me to try on. I’ll likely pick the one with the most obnoxious name. [↩]
2. I think every geek either has done this, or says they want to [↩]
3. Yes, I promise, one day I WILL get around to tackling these projects! [↩]
4. I reserve the right to interpret ‘read’ loosely to include listening to the audiobook versions [↩]
5. though I’m going to wait until the final book is published before I begin [↩]