allensh
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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in the "allensh" journal:[<< Previous 20 entries]
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03:42 am
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My poor neglected LiveJournal Page....
...I really should post here more often. I think I will in the future.
Allen
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02:27 am
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I can't believe this stuff
Ok, I voted for Barack Obama, but he's done a few things I'm not real big on, like some of the aspects of the health care plan. I expected this; I will probably never agree with any politican all of the time.
But...I can't stand these freakin' "birthers". They continually hammer away at this crap about his birth certificate despite it now being at least three times that the state of Hawaii has confirmed that he was born there. They split major hairs over the whole "natural born citizen" thing even though the citizenship clause of the Fourteenth Amendment explains it! While I'm sure this is not true for all of them, a lot of them seem to be using this as a cover to hide what they really mean, which amounts to things like:
"My side lost the election and as I can't see how this could possibly happen legitimately, I'm going to choose to believe it is due to some conspiracy and chicanery"
"Barack Obama isn't the race I want my President to be and I don't like this"
"I choose to listen to people like Rush Limbaugh and Lou Dobbs because its so much less work than, you know, thinking for MYSELF".
Here's what I know from careful research in a number of different places:
1. Barack Obama was born in Hawaii.
2. Barack Obama, having been born on U.S. soil, is a citizen of the United States of America. Since he did not gain his citizenship later in life but got it when he was born, that makes him a natural born citizen of the U.S.
3. It does not matter that his dad was Kenyan; he was born HERE and so is therefore a citizen. If he were born on Guam, Puerto Rico, or a U.S. military base overseas, same thing.
4. Anyone who doesn't believe the above is simply choosing not to.
because, you know, it makes total sense that they would sneak a forged birth announcement into a Hawaii newspaper back in 1961 just on the off chance that the kid might want to run for President someday..always better to be prepared, right?
I'm sorry, but anyone who subscribes to that birther bullshit simply isn't thinking...or they know exactly what they're doing and that disgusts me even more.
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08:21 am
[Link] | I used to be on an IRC channel called #callahans all the time. I stopped being a regular there some time ago, although I pop in from time to time. The channel was originally founded to be an online representation of the bar from the Callahan's Crosstime Saloon books by Spider Robinson. In the books, the regular patrons of the bar really cared about each other, treated each other with great empathy and helped each other through difficult times. There were other things that went on of course; the books are sci-fi after all. But the point was, the channel tried to be these things. And a lot of times, it was...and sometimes it wasn't. I allowed myself to get hurt there a few times and decided that I needed to withdraw some. Take the whole thing less seriously, relegate it to being "just an IRC channel".
Last night, because of pain over the cancer of a woman I don't really know but have talked to online, I went to #callahans...along with a ton of other folks. Some had not been on channel in 6 years or more. Some had to download mIRC or some other client and install it then and there just to get online. Contacted through here, or Facebook, or other places.
For that night, the magic of The Place was back for me. No sniping, no petty arguments...just people sharing pain to lessen that pain, and refuting entropy. I alternated between laughing and cryng all night, stayed up a lot later than I should have...and was so glad to "see" everyone who came in.
It really sucks, the reason we were there...but I was glad to be there just the same.
Current Mood:  grateful
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05:39 pm
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Hope returns
when MSNBC announced their projection that Obama had won...I started crying.
Then I looked at Susan and said "I am so proud of my country".
Racial prejudice is not dead; it probably never will be. But this time, a lot of people set it aside to vote for the candidate that they felt could restore our country, restore our hope.
Maybe we can get used to doing that more often.
Current Mood: hopeful
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11:04 am
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Pain
I couldn't play D&D yesterday due to incredible pain in my back. I finished up the league football game I had committed to playing, then came home.
Every passing year my back issues get worse and worse. I have no idea what is even really wrong with it, being one of the millions without health insurance (and not likely to get it either with this pre-existing condition). The last diagnosis I had, back in 1998, was Chronic Muscle Tension, which does seem to fit; if I get under any kind of stress, especially in a setting where I can't vent, my back tightens right up. The CMT means it can take hours or days to let go. I think there may be some disc issue as well but I can't go find out right now.
I've lost jobs, friends, and even family relationships because of my back problems. They make me an irritable person where I never used to be. They feed into my problems with depression and may even be a large contributing factor to the depression in the first place. They negatively impact my self-image.
Chronic pain sufferers sometimes commit suicide when the pain gets too bad. I have no intention whatsoever of doing that for a variety of reasons...but I can understand why eventually, you just want to quit hurting. I would literally give up ten years of my life (hopefully the last ten years...) for one day without pain.
I've had people accuse me to my face of "faking". I really wish that were true because then it wouldn't hurt.
Allen
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09:03 am
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21 years
After seeing Susan and I together recently, one of my friends from Level 20 Games commented that we looked like a couple does during their first year of marriage...which, given that today is our 21st wedding anniversary, says a lot.
21 years...its hard to believe it has been that long sometimes. At other times, I can't remember what it was like to be without her. I don't want to.
Susan, I love you. Here's to at least 21 more.
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02:29 pm
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McCain campaign disses D&D players
McCain campaign staffer Michael Goldfarb made a disparging comment about D&D players in this blog entry:
http://www.johnmccain.com/McCainReport/Read.aspx?guid=181471d0-5456-4434-9f78-2f30ffc39459
This is apparently the second time this month that Goldfarb has used this slur against D&D playersto insult supporters of Barack Obama.
RPG.net forum member Falkehas this interesting idea for how to protest this slur:
"You know what? I just had an idea. I want to protest this slur against my hobby, but how to do it in a way that is symbolic of that hobby?
I am going to mail McCain a set of dice.
I think everyone should do this. Inundate his campaign HQ with dice. Any gamer generally has an extra set or 20 dice sitting around doing nothing but collecting dice dust in a dice bag. Why not put together a set and send them to a campaign that could clearly use a better set of dice to make their Intelligence and Oration checks with?
Who's with me?"
I think this is a hilarious idea :) I'm definitley considering it.
Current Mood:  annoyed
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04:27 pm
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Social networking for gamers
http://rpgbomb.com/Allensh
This is my page on RPGBomb, a new networking site for gamers. I will likely be posting most game related stuff there from now on and saving this for the occasional non-game related stuff.
Allen
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02:42 am
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D&D 4th edition
Been awhile since I posted something :)
I now own the three core books (more accuratlely the first three core books..there will be more...) for the 4th edition of Dungeons & Dragons. I will now off my opinion on this newest iteration of the world's most popular roleplaying game:
I like it!
Someone somewhere finally got a clue and the overblown, "a rule for everything", overly complex D&D 3.5 has been replaced with an edition that I can actually RUN and PLAY without it taking up a not-insignificant part of my remaining lifespan to prep for!
The complexity has been dialed back to around early 2nd edition level, but much of the good parts of the d20 system remain. This version will work for me. Okay, multiclassing is bit clunky...but that's ok because I hate multiclassing anyway.
But MAN...you should hear all the powergamers and munchkins on the Internet crying because their favorite game-breaking toys have been taken away! Its almost comical.
Between this and the Mongoose version of Traveller this will be a fun and oddly nostalgic summer of gaming for me.
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12:22 pm
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"oh my god..I'm the tin dog!"
The Doctor Who RPG playtest kicked off this weekend (that is, it started, not died). Due to signed NDAs and such I can't go into any details about the game..but I can say that I'm enjoying the playtest a lot. I have never seen so many pros from other game companies and well-known (to me, at any rate) RPG writers involved in a playtest before!
The game is based on the new series as that is as far as the license extends, and that's fine by me. Now begins the process of hammering out the rough spots. Dave Chapman has given us a very solid base to start with though. I loved Time Lord (published in 1991 by Virgin Books) and the FASA Doctor Who game as well but I think, with the playtesters we have, this will be the best Doctor Who RPG yet.
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11:28 pm
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"wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff"
Cubicle 7 Entertainment is doing a new RPG called "Doctor Who - Adventures in Time and Space" based on the new Doctor Who series...and I get to help playtest it!
Life is already much nicer in 2008 than in 2007, with a car, a new game store and now this :)
Allen
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10:29 pm
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Our Long Gaming Nightmare is Over
We have a REAL GAMING STORE in this town again!! Staffed by people who understand gaming because they are gamers! Who don't give you a blank stare or worse go "blah blah blah you're speaking a foriegn language" when you ask them about a game. (Yes, this did happen to me at Hall of Horrors..er...Heroes). People who GET IT! Not just about gaming but little details like CUSTOMER SERVICE and RESPECT!!
http://level20games.com/
A venue I am proud to say I will support with what money I have for such things, and people I shall enjoy talking to and sharing my hobby with.
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03:16 pm
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Stuff that's going on
MPGA seems to picking up steam..we had to can our faculty advisor because he turned out to be a control freak and a jerk...enough about that. We got our old advisor back who is a very nice guy and an avid boardgamer. We've picked up some D&D players (a good thing; its the most popular game out there by leaps and bounds). Our President wants to introduce a motion to abandon our present rooms and move to the Down Under Club. I consider this a VERY bad idea but I suspect it will get voted down anyway.
And...I have a Traveller campaign again. I really did not expect this. True, I only have two players right now...but its a start. and its Classic Traveller too, something I also did not expect...and they like it! I did tell them however that they will have to consider changing systems when Mongoose Traveller comes out, because I like what I am hearing about that upcoming version.
I've had a cold and a sinus infection for a couple days as well as what I'm fairly certain was a stomach virus..or maybe food poisoning. Too many Hiver Corn Dogs :) (ick...)
MI-Con is this coming Saturday from 10 Am to 10 PM at Powers Hall on the Central Michigan University campus. gaming and anime :) I'll be running a Savage Worlds game demo and there will be other games afoot as well. and anime to watch, and I think some LARPing going on (LARPing is of course a form of gaming but distinct enough I figured it warranted its own category). We hope to hand out many MPGA flyers and business cards and maybe expand the club such that we will HAVE to have two rooms :) Anyone reading this who can get there is invited to attend!
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11:12 pm
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Not Dead Yet
It seems that MPGA is not as dead as I believed. Efforts are underway to return the club to the CMU campus as a Registered Student Organization. Neil Christiansen has been extremely helpful in this as has been Matt Kaiser, and they both deserve many thanks.
We have forums at http://z3.invisionfree.com/mpgaforums ; if you are an MPGA alumnus reading this, go register there! we want to get you in on the discussions, and those of you who are writers can pimp your books in the Everything Else forum :) (That includes game authors too). We also will be getting in on WOTC's Gleemax social networking thing for gamers when that gets up and running.
MPGA..don't try to kill us it will only make us...game even more :)
Allen
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02:30 am
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MPGA. 1986 - September 9th, 2007
rest in peace, gaming club. I did my best but it just wasn't good enough.
Current Mood:  sad
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10:34 am
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It was 20 years ago today
 | yeah, it's cliche...so sue me :) On this date in the year 1987, my wonderful wife Susan and I were married. I actually had someone at the wedding inform me that there was talk that she and I would not last a year...I found out later it was that person himself who said that. 20 years later...through very good times and very bad...through illness and sadness ...we're still together! Susan is the thing that keeps me going in the face of chronic pain and difficult times. I know what people mean when they say "better half"...it's very true. I love you, Susan. |
Current Mood: loved
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10:31 am
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Chris Benoit
I read an article not too long ago on Yahoo about the way that people think they "know" celebrities because they see them on TV or in movies and it breeds this false sort of familiarity. This is coming back to me now because one of the last people in the world I would ever have expected to murder his wife and 7 year old son would have been Chris Benoit. But I realize now, I did not know this man at all. I only knew the character he played on WWE television.
Could drugs have caused this? Steroid rage?
Last night I was totally in shock as a friend and I watched the tribute show, a show that lauded the virtues of a man who supposedly loved his family and now, it turns out, may have killed them. WWE was in a tough spot, with three hours to fill and precious little information they had or could give; I don't fault them for it. And the fact is, Chris Benoit was a great performer and one of the legends of pro wrestling. But its hard right now for me to separate that persona from a man who may have killed a seven year old little boy.
I don't think I'm going to watch any wrestling for awhile...
Current Location: at home
Current Mood:  confused
Current Music: none
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11:27 am
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SW intro 2...
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| | | "SW intro 2..." on Google Video |  |
A guy from RPG.net whose handle is "grubman" wrote a really cool adventure for the Saga edition of the Star Wars RPG that I will be running this Friday night. Lo and behold another person created an actual scrolling intro for the adventure :) here it is!
Excuse me while I clean up the popcorn to get ready for the next showing...:)
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01:46 pm
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Better late than never
I'm trying to figure out why I never watched Firefly when it was on network TV. Perhaps I am one of the reasons it got cancelled. A friend of mine bought me the DVD set as a belated birthday present. I have only watched three episodes so far...but that was enough to hook me SO bad. My friend Tony Lee from out in L.A. decided to feed this addiction by sending me a copy of the Serenity RPG (signed by all the designers AND by Ron Glass, aka Shepherd Book). RPGs are of course my weakness. So, I am now a Browncoat.
The Star Wars Saga RPG is quite cool too and so is Pirates of the Spanish Main...but it seems to be Serenity that has grabbed me by the throat and is saying "Run me!"
Allen
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12:39 am
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I love my wife!
She bought me the newest edition of the Star Wars RPG :) she is most wonderful and awesome!
Allen
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