Friday Update

Wow, JB...you dropped off the face of the Earth for the week. I’m sure that’s what SOME folks are thinking.

Well, kind of sort of not really...I mean I’ve been here after all, just doing things other than planting seeds in the old blog...or anything gaming related actually. But here I am, and hi and hello to everyone!

[by the way, I am currently writing this at the Wild Mountain Cafe, which does NOT have internet access...however, I shall be posting it later as I move to the Wayward Coffee Shop and it’s WiFi network...sorry, folks, this ain’t even in real time]

But who cares, right? What’s the skinny?

Well other than my own job-type work (which was incredibly back-logged and which I’ve finally FINALLY caught the hell up on, not that any gamers/readers would or SHOULD care), I’ve started writing again. As in really writing, not just scratching out notes and outlines. Just spent a couple hours yesterday doing it, and I fully intend to spend several hours today doing the same.

Thank God.

It’s been awhile...like WEEKS, I’m afraid. I wouldn’t call the problem “writer’s block,” per se...once I actually started typing the words kind of avalanched out of my brain (as per usual). All the stuff is up in the ol’ brain pan where it’s been ruminating/fermenting but I just haven’t been putting fingers to keyboard.

I prefer to call my syndrome “inertial block.” Historically, I have been a slave to inertia. When I am in motion I tend to stay in motion, and when I’m not...well, my wife will tell you it can be hard to get me moving once I’m “planted,” even with a ton of coffee pumping through my veins.

This week, I was using my inertial energy to bulldoze through the stuff on my desk/computer at work. By Thursday noon, I had nothing left to do, and after lunch a few phone calls and a nap, I had nothing TO DO but actually get back to work on the module....and knocked out a couple more solid pages, including a bunch of the boring stuff.

I’m back, baby.

So today should be more of the same...the last couple Fridays I’ve had tons of shit to do, including catching up on blog reading-writing and A TON of household chores in anticipation of Super Bowl / NFL play-off parties. Today, there’s nothing till 4:30 or so, which should give 5-6 straight hours of writing. I’m sure I don’t need to explain myself here, but it’s cathartic for me to express just how liberating this is...even with my tweaked back/shoulder twinging at my neck.

Anyhoo...there’s a lot of stuff I could blog about: my new super secret project, and a second only-slightly-less-secret project I like to refer to as Operation: Gypsy Road. I spent a lot of time reading about Oddysey’s Traveller campaign and it made me salivate to have one of my own...hell, I might even run some solitaire “trading missions” in my spare time to see how the system plays (I haven’t yet run a Trav campaign with the new Mongoose rules, though I’ve owned the book for a year or so).

I’ve been reading Dies the Fire...slowly...and I’m really digging it. It’s not nearly as depressing as the real life stories coming out of the Congo these days (folks, that place is in the shit and no lie...write your congressman to get involved!). It is also exactly the kind of story I was talking about including both the “struggle for survival” and the “re-building of community.” If I DO write my own post-apocalyptic RPG I think that Stirling’s book (along with The Canticle for Leibowitz) is going to be incredibly influential on how game-play is shaped...it ain’t just about looking for treasures buried under ancient rubble, it’s about finding a way to feed your clan/family in a world gone mad.

But PA is definitely on the back-burner today. For one thing, it’s cold and very wet today without a trace of Springtime Re-Birth in the air. For another, I want to bang out at least half-a-dozen pages on GQ1.

Happy Friday, folks!