![Picture](/uploads/1/1/2/6/11261556/3817093.png?85)
![]() Last Sunday I played 3 rounds of Hive with the kids, and Rattlesnake, and Nexus Ops (!) and Aquaretto with the whole family. If I had gotten some Magic in, it would have been a fulfilling weekend... (Definitely worth a brag).
0 Comments
![]() This year, I have decided to try a new movie, book, or game each week. Week 7: February 17 - February 23, 2014Hah! Thanks to the arrival of D4 I didn't do anything this week. I guess a new baby will have to be the "new thing" this time.
![]() D4 was born last week; at 39 weeks and 8 pounds, this is the longest any of our kids have gone before being born. Ironically, DW had just seen her OB that afternoon and nothing was going on. She had contractions within two hours and we were at the hospital 4 hours later. Admission took almost half an hour, then in Triage as soon as the nurse saw DW she was whisked to a room and the doc was called in (not enough time to get an epidural!). D4 was born just after midnight. It's been a week now and everyone is doing well. Unlike the other girls, she didn't spend any time in the NICU; the nurses were a little concerned about her gaspy breathing, but the specialist said it was just "transition" and she would sound normal soon (which she did). She has had trouble eating enough, and DW got "permission" to supplement with formula, which has really helped - D4 will actually sleep some now. More photos after the jump.
![]() This year, I have decided to try a new movie, book, or game each week. Week 6: February 10 - February 16, 2014 We're all still waiting for the appearance of D4, but nothing moving in that direction yet. Everything at work is incredibly busy. Looking back at weeks 1 and 2, I can't believe I had time to do all those things. Oh well...
Books: not reading anything right now - real disappointment. Games: Played Cthulhu Munchkin with S1 and D1 this weekend. I spotted D1 to 5th level and S1 to 3rd level since I've played this game before. The kids were happy that the game ended quickly; D1 was at 9th level at the end of her first turn. She was unhappy because she helped S1 for free, but then he tried to keep her from winning (I know, crazy right?). That really offended her, and she could not understand why he wouldn't just let her win. S1 was unhappy that he lost; he still thinks that the only point of a game is to win, so losing means that you ruined a half hour of your life which you can never have back.. DVDs: We watched the second volume of Pokemon this week. Even D3 wants Pokemon all the time. I'd like to buy her some Pokemon pajamas, but all you find on EBay is cosplay stuff (no links - I feel weird enough just finding the results). Update: foolishly, I was thinking at this time that I would be able to do some of my interests when the new baby was born. As you'll see from new posts, that didn't happen. Time gets filled one way or another. ![]() This year, I have decided to try a new movie, book, or game each week. Week 5: February 3 - February 9, 2014Still recovering from last month's respiratory Ebola or whatever. I guess I finally recovered enough to realize just how bad I felt. I guess that's why you can be getting better but feel worse. Also, DW has thought all week that she would be delivering any minute, so things have been stressful at the house. I did my taxes today and wrapped up my part in my church's elder nominating committee and that's been my free time for the week (mostly, anyway). Books: Now rereading the Rules Compendium for D&D Essentials, following up on Heroes of the Fallen Lands. Games: I am still playing Skylanders: Swap Force, but nothing new. DW and I have a game night date with the new youth pastor and his wife for the end of this month. If I play my cards right, I could end up with a long term gaming buddy... DVDs: We're watching season 1 of Pokemon with all the kids; D3 will even punch me and demand to see it. I watched this show on TV every afternoon while rooming with Crazy Ben in Oak Ridge in 1999. Like most anime series produced for the US, the plot lines are incredibly repetitive and the anime tics are awkward if you aren't used to seeing them. I suppose that my enjoyment of the show is somewhat nostalgic, but mostly the plot device of kids wandering in the woods having pokemon battles reminds me of D&D characters wandering in the woods having monster battles. I guess I kinda relate. I also note that my enjoyment of World of Warcraft is now largely due to pet battling; basically, I'm playing Pokemon on my computer for $14.99 a month. Gotta catch em all, indeed. On a side note, S1, D1, and I went on an overnight field trip this weekend to the La Brea tar pits. It was called Camp Goo and held at the Page Museum, which is the public portion of the La Brea park. Our cub scout pack signed up as a group, but there were plenty of other parents and kids. The program went until 10 PM, which was a little late for both kids and parents. We had a nighttime tour of the pits, made some sludge, and had a scavenger hunt throughout the museum. We got to pick a spot to camp in, and we picked... the hall of skulls...!
![]() This year, I have decided to try a new movie, book, or game each week. Week 3 & 4: January 20 - February 2, 2014So, I'm still recovering from this respiratory Ebola that my kids gave me. For the past 3 weeks I've been hemorrhaging everything, up to and including cerebrospinal fluid from my nose. My sinus rinse flushed out more than one decaying zombie from the dark recesses of my skull. There was also the stomach bug... It's rough when you can't even watch TV because staring blankly at a screen is more intense than you can handle. Despite my neural connections liquefying, here's the new experiences from the past two weeks.
Books: I finished rereading Heroes of the Fallen Lands, one of the core books for D&D Essentials (D&D 4E). My sister thinks that D&D ended with AD&D 2e (which is now Pathfinder?, I think) but I enjoy D&D 4e. I think it is sufficiently different from what I grew up with to not feel conflicted loyalties. Rereading the corebooks makes me realize how much I miss this kind of gaming. I've tried teaching my kids to play, but they have neither the attention span nor the maturity to handle the mechanics. Games: I am still playing Skylanders: Swap Force, but nothing new. DVDs: I watched Barbie Diamond Castle with D2 while we were both sick. The music was nice, and the storyline wasn't objectionable. I asked D2 if she thought the boys were cute and she answered with a flat "no". As always, who knows what women like? We all watched Lego Batman: the movie, which seems to be the animation sequences from Lego Batman 2. Again, the storyline wasn't objectionable and I got it for $2 so it was worth the money. It has as extras 2 episodes from Batman: the Brave & the Bold, which is a series that we all really enjoy, and an episode from Teen Titans. BTW, I bought it for myself so I'd get something for Christmas... a good buy indeed. ![]() This year, I have decided to try a new movie, book, or game each week. Week 2: January 12 - January 19, 2014Books: I'm still working through Great Tales of Terror and the Supernatural from last week and I'm stuck on a story by Oliver Onions. The editor of the anthology thought that it was supremely chilling and should not be read while alone, but I'm finding the plot development to be too slow for the time investment demanded. I'm also reading Irredeemable by Mark Waid; this is a great story about a Superman-like character who doesn't have the psychological stability to deal with his power and ends up taking his anger out on the world that failed him. The storyline suffers from what one reviewer termed "Gilligan's Island" syndrome: the central problem can't be resolved or the series would be over, so there must be a parade of schemes that accomplish nothing. The series shares in common with zombie stories that dissension between the survivors causes more trouble than the antagonist. Whether or not Mark Waid had any theology in mind, Irredeemable has made me think about forgiveness and redemption. Could someone be forgiven for single-handedly destroying human civilization? If he can't, then why refrain from further acts of destruction? If he can, what act of redemption would suffice to gain that forgiveness? From a Christian point-of-view, are the same questions relevant regardless of the magnitude of the sin? I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series.
Games: I plan on playing Skylanders Swap Force for quite awhile, and we got some new swap-force characters to unlock more of the challenges. S1 and I played a new Magic Duel Deck: Heroes vs. Monsters on Saturday. I enjoy playing the duel decks with DW, since the decks are preconstructed and ideally are balanced for play against each other. These decks are a lot less complicated than decks which I design, which helps her a lot in playing them. I usually can't get S1 to play Magic with me, as he would rather look at the cards than play them. However, he volunteered that he would like to play, so we did. He beat me with the Heroes deck by pumping a Sun Titan to 8/8 and giving it flying. Even more surprising to me, S1 wanted to play Munchkin with me today. We've played it before at Rob and Julianna's, and DW has played Munchkin Cthulhu with me back in Alabama (I regret now giving it away, but it didn't play well with just 2). DW, S1, D1, and I played Munchkin, the Deluxe version which has a board to show progression in levels - this makes the game a lot easier to play and visualize the game state. It went on a little long, and there was some reticence to backstab and screw your neighbor. I'm just impressed that S1 wanted to play (he also won). DVDs: still watching WWI documentary The War to End all Wars. Saw the episode on the development of the air force in WWI; takeaway is you don't want to be in an airplane when fighting a technologically equivalent society. ![]() People usually make New Year's resolutions that are supposed to improve themselves somehow, and are usually unpleasant (such that we must resolve to do it, unlike eating chocolate cake, which requires no resolve). Since I am pretty much perfect the way that I am (cough, cough), I usually make resolutions for things I want to do. For instance, one year I resolved to play more board games, which was actually a challenge but I made a real go of it. This year, I have decided to try a new movie, book, or game each week. Now, this isn't quite as hedonistic as it sounds (or perhaps it is, haha). I've noticed that I have accumulated a great many games, books, and DVDs that never get used. In fact, if I don't read it with the kids, it is never read; if I don't watch it with the kids, it never gets watched, etc. I feel rather limited, and would like to explore the world of possibilities, which I've already paid for by the way. I'm hoping that this resolution will give me motivation to plow into my field of interests rather than piddle my time away. The runner-up resolution was to post about my miniatures every week, but I wanted to choose something that was actually going to get done. Week 1: January 4 - January 11, 2014 Books: I've been working through Great Tales of Terror and the Supernatural, an anthology of scary stories, both of the mundane and supernatural flavor, from 1944 and earlier. The themes aren't as eldritch as I'm used to, and some of the short stories drag on too long (I would have been happier completely skipping Rudyard Kipling's "They" and I'm only working through Algernon Blackwood's "Ancient Sorceries" because, well, it's Algernon Blackwood), but otherwise I'm quite please with the selection and quality. Short stories are really what I have time for, and I've become if not a connoisseur, then at least a gourmand. That my meals come in small bites makes them no less tasty (or nutritious).
Games: Last year's big purchase was an XBOX 360 and Skylanders Spyro's Adventure (thanks to Walmart and pre-Black Friday online sales). Skylanders is a game where you buy your content one miniature at a time, which unlocks new characters and powers in the game. So of course we had to get them all. The amount of money that drained from me throughout the year was ... quite large. Of course, when we got Spyro's Adventure we couldn't play the new Skylanders Giants figures (which are pretty big, more like bigatures), so we had to buy that game as well. This year's Black Friday purchase was Skylanders Swap Force (thanks Mom and Dad!) which we received over Christmas. The large size characters for this game come in two pieces (with magnets holding them together) so that you can swap parts, and the RFID reader picks up both signals. Which means a new portal, a new game, and new figures. Still, it's something that I, S1, D1, and D2 can all play together (although not at the same time), and we play a lot of it. DVDs: DW and I are watching a WWI documentary The War to End all Wars. which I got a couple year's ago. The quality is about that of a school "flimstirp", with narration so dry it makes Ben Stein look animated, low quality map animations, and film footage played repeatedly. It's pretty low quality, but I got it for a $1 and it's the only WWI documentary I can find (in stores anyway). The best feature of this DVD is that it comes in 10 self-contained chapters, so watching 1 hour per night doesn't leave us in the middle of anything. One thing I have learned from this documentary is how astounding the casualties were, especialyl on the Eastern Front. Losing a 100,000 soldiers per side in one battle was something that just happened, and the Russians lost 1 million during just part of the year. I read a line once by C.S. Lewis, about the boys of his generation being swallowed up in the maw of WWI, but those sorts of numbers are hard to process. ![]() Okay, I'll admit it's a little late. The problem with blogging is that I'd rather live life than blog about it. But, it is still the Christmas season - today is Epiphany (which is why I included the Magi in the nativity to the left). Posting has been scarce because I've spent the past month desperately trying to finish a project for my mom's Christmas - painting miniature skeleton pirates and their pirate ship. I timed the miniatures well and had them done by Christmas, but the ship had more detail than I expected and I was working on it even after I gave it as a gift. I intend to make a post of the story, but I've been faithless in that regard lately and I'd be hard pressed to say that I've more time to be had. I will have Christmas pictures below the break. The last birthday post has been updated for DW and D2 - see after the jump. Christmas will be up soon.
|
AuthorI am a father of five who is currently working as a medical physicist at [a nice place]. I have a Ph.D. in particle physics and I like games. Archives
November 2016
Categories
All
|