The aftermath

Well the family holidays are over. Here is my list of loot:

- A screwdriver that changes bits, thank you Thea and John.
- A couple of really neat shirts including this awesome microfiber one that is black and thick and warm. Mmmm... Also some nice new decorations for my studio. Thank you Mom and Doug.
- Some neat season spices with humorous names from the Baucom gift exchange. Thanks whoever brought the "good shit".
- Some very nice cards. Thank you Thea & John, the Fredrick Family, Mitch, Dad and H&R Block (these guys need to get a life).
- Some really awesome sawhorses and a set of power tools (jig-saw, sawzall, skill saw and drill). Thank you Dad, really awesome! In addition to the couch I am going to build starting next week, I will also be building a dresser. Yay!
- A pair of tongs. Thank you Ben, that was very thoughtful.
- A really neat black pitcher. Thank you Mike and Jackie, it really is perfect.
- A WWCND (What Would Chuck Norris Do) shirt and some fish candies called "Master Bait". ha ha! Thank you Jordan and Anna.

So this was a pretty good Christmas. I know at first I may have sounded a little hesitant to get in on the family roller-coaster, but in the end it just felt right.

Some updates on thoughts. The atheism post I made a while back must have shown a light amount of animosity toward religion in general. Kevin makes the point that it is not religion in general that has caused humanity such grief, but extremists of those religions. I have always felt that being extreme about anything is often the cause of the problems we face. It is certainly possible that my atheistic views are extreme and therefore am my own enemy. I have taken time to reflect on this. I wholeheartedly believe that most religions in their inception had their hearts in the right place. Some people, however, enjoy having power over other people. Having vague and easily misinterpreted dictum coming from sources widely believed to be infallible is a pretty easy way of achieving that goal. Moderate theists are (usually) able to differentiate between what their religion had in mind, what it meant to offer as allegory and what has been re-interpreted for nefarious reasons. This is a good thing and after my reflection I think it is unfair to lump moderate theists with "religion" as an opposing force. Fundamentalists take whatever they interpret from their dictum as fact. This is not a good thing in my mind because it often breeds mistakes, very big mistakes that cost lives and happiness, breed oppression and fear. Even extreme atheism could cause bad things, like ... fear of all things religious. Therefore, I will shift the focus of my indignation to those who practice things in extremes rather than those who practice, and I will endeavor to become more moderate myself.

Note: moderate does not mean I am agnostic, I still do not believe any deities exist and will not change my mind about that without empirical evidence.

I am still in a toss-up about the Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays debate. I think in light of this recent reflection however, I am probably shifting to the former or just avoiding the labeling of such all together.

At any rate, I had a wonderful Christmas and Thanksgiving and I feel great!

-Aaron

What I want from Santa

Just in case someone out there wants to buy me loot.

- Pitcher (for holding liquid beverages)

- Tongs. It's silly but there seems to be a tong shortage in Santa Cruz. Okay tangent time... Every single grocery store I have gone too has every kitchen utensil but tongs. Really! They have a selection of 5 different kinds of basters...

- One of those classic green desk lamps. If you could find one in red... wowzas.

- An iPod. It could happen!!!
- A RealDoll.

- If you do get any clothing black or primary colors preferred, and make sure it is 2XL because it has to fit my icon.

- A Jigsaw.

- A drink shaker.

We need professional help

So Mr. Anonymous the Hun, I am guessing by the way that you are not backing down from anything you say it must be my good buddy Lucky. Thank you very much for your comments. In the future, let us keep comments on topic and suggestions on icon modification in email. ;)

Well, now that we have that out of the way, and I have MORE appropriately modified my icon, let us move on to some more enlightening conversation. The trip. It seems now that my compatriots, due to no fault of their own (new jobs for each of them meaning low cash flow and/or little vacation time) are probably backing out of their plan to travel to Europe. You know... I have been cooking ramen and potatoes since last month to save money for the vacation 5 months from now. I really, really, really want to go. So, if you are out there listening, please think of the midgets. If this gets put off for one year, that slippery slope leads to never going. So, anyone out there want to travel? ASR LFG 4 Europe. Have L31 Bachelor, LF 1-5 more L21+.

A new thing for me. I have not GMed a pen-and-paper RPG since I was very little. Lately I have been writing lore and ... things for a world to play in. Very interesting. I have experienced a wide variety of GM styles through my life, enough to generate opinions on "how I would do things" and I think I have finally hit on the ultimate game. When I have enough lore and content built up I plan to unleash it upon any who would dare entertain the thought.

-Aaron

On the subject of etiquette

So I enabled comments on my blog to invite discussions on the topics I post and I am glad to have them. Someone out there found it necessary to post some comments about how my icon looked thin compared to me. Well my friendly little griefer, there you go. I know I am fat, I am aware of it and I could frankly give a shit. The reason I moderated my comments is because I am embarrassed by the fact that I may know someone who is as rude as you. You call me a coward for enabling moderation, which I find very amusing as you are posting your comments as "Anonymous". If it were any of my friends calling me a repugnant obese pear-shaped water buffalo I would be much less likely to moderate the comment because, hey, they earned the right to say it by being a friend. So, I invite you to go ahead and post some comments with your name so I can tell if I care about your opinion or not.

-Big Aaron

Perplexing

So I mentioned the vacation I am planning on for 2007. I have my passport now and all is well on my end. Let me say though, I worry about the conviction of my peers, and I will leave it at that. *meaningful stare*

So I may have mentioned this little game called Perplexcity. Well I must admit I was against it from the start because I feel that the goal is inherently unachievable, however I was goaded unabashedly by the TWO FREE PUZZLES it offered with my free account. They had me! So I signed up and bought some cards. Wait, what? Yes, you buy cards and each one of them has a puzzle on it. They range from very easy to the kind of puzzle that thousands of people are working on and have not yet been able to solve. So far I really dig it. I even solved one of the silver cards (highest difficulty) on my own! It isn't just a puzzle game either, it is what is called an Alternate Reality Game. That is a fancy way of saying there is a fantasy that you and others around the world interact in to solve a collective problem. Also, there is a metal cube hidden somewhere on real Earth that is worth $200 large. Anyway, thought it was worth mentioning, and if you do end up making an account and trying out the free puzzles, be sure to link me on your tracked players. My account name is effendi13.

-Aaron