Nightbane

Where Is Everyone?

   Can someone please tell me where the member directory is?  There doesn't seem to be anything about it in the Help section.  There only about two dozen blogs listed in the featured stuff and NONE of them is anyone I know.  There were already several who came from Vox but they are not listed in the featured stuff.  Honestly, how does anyone find anyone without a directory?  Or is that the point?  No directory, no on site message function, no way to find anyone...  How the bloody 'ell do you locate the community?  How do you find those who came over from Vox or elsewhere?  How does anyone possibly know you're here to read you witout a directory?  I mean, nobody can find me here?  Or did you only want us to compse here ( with a dysfuctional editor no less ) and send it all out to the social sewers and other places?
   You know, this place is cold and unwelcoming and I am certain it isn't the people here, it  is the management and their failure to install a directory or give us any way to find anything but their pet money makers.

How to Get the Font You Want - Tutorial

   My Gods, I was able to fathom it.  You see, many of us above thirty cannot see fine font.  The font in the editor is uncomfortably small and there is no alternative unless one has that bloody html babble.  Nevermind we who are above thirty weren't taught that stuff in school because it DID NOT EXIST then, we're assumed to know and be conversant in it, ffs...
   So how did this antique manage it?  I did struggle with a course in html and I do own a number of sites, I actually do most of the administration except where it comes to writing the html babble.  For that I rely on younger eyes who learnt the stuff in school and who are eager to be paid for that education.  I do change some of the stuff once the original pages are writ but I almost never write in it from scratch, as it were.  The results are usually far from satisfactory.  Too, my html is limited to that which will be needed for the sites in question.  That means I haven't much of it.
   Happily, the editor will allow one to start a thing in html, look at it in rich text and then continue in rich text if all is satisfactory.  I simply went to the cpanel of one of my sites, went into the public page section and chose one with a short line I could find easily.  I copy/pasted the line into a text file and then removed the text and replaced it with the words " Type Here " so I could locate where to put the real ( English ) language in all the html babble.  I then replaced the style, size and colour with my preferences.  I checked the result in the rich text editor and it worked!  I am now typing happily in the rich text editor in a font I can bloody well see even having been awake for over twenty-four hours.
   The typepad people really should get the editor fixed......

Test

   Bloody damned fonts aren't working!

Bird's Eye View

   Wanna see that hurricane?  See it HERE

Whimsical Wednesday

                                            There is nothing quite so whimsical as a butterfly.

Butterfly Bizarre

                                             Image reprinted here by permission of the artist
                                               Click image to go to photo page
                                   Click name of photo when there to see it full size

Who Are My Watchers?

   They have been numerous and varied over the years.  Presently they include two retired nurses, an herbologist studying for a chemist's license,  several who work other than day shifts, a grandmum who will watch me during the day, several college students who variously studying medicine, behavioural psychology, music, art and a teaching degree with focus on special needs students.  Some come in pairs or trios.  Others are solitary beings.  Some only come if iIve been awake past a certain number of hours, others won't come if I've gone too far.  I have a hospice worker comes or sends another so qualified if it's gone sixty hours.  At that point I would dearly welcome oblivion, though not the kind they ordinarily deal with, and all I seem to want beyond sleep is to be held.
   Most of the time I sleep a little every night, about four hours, usually broken.  I have hard time getting to sleep and staying there once it comes.  I usually sleep two and a half hours, am awake again for about an hour and a half, sleep again for an hour and a half and then am up for the day.  Not the medically recommended dosage but I get along quite well on it, actually.  At other times it isn't so nice and I'm awake two days at a time or more.  If it gets to seventy-two hours a decision must be made by doctor as to whether I need sedating.  Drugs ultimately tend to make it worse but are sometimes necessary to save me organ or brain damage.
  Please note this last is a very rare thing, I have only had to be sedated four times in the past decade.  Two of those were the same bout, the other two were seperate incidents.
   Also note this present bout is nowhere near the extreme end of things.
.
   Tonight my watchers are a culinary student and Friend Artist.
  

How To Measure Pasta

   " Nightbane, you know a lot about cooking, right? '
   " I did it profesionally.  Call it an occupational hazard. "
   " Okaaaaay...  how do you measure pasta before it's cooked and you made too much? "
   " What do I get if I have the right answer? "
   " Fed. "
    This watcher is a good cook and wants to feed me.  It's probably nearing my feeding time so I assist it.
   " The dish is served in bowl or plate?"
   " Bowl... like this one. "    I was handed a bowl.
   " Open the type of pasta you'll be using.  Put into the bowl the precise amount you'd want when cooked.  Repeat that as many times as there will be servings. Pasta doesn't gain much volume when cooked. "
  I was rewarded with smile to light the city as watcher said,
   " As simple as that?  I think I love you..."
   I have no idea what the finished food is other than it's a thick sauce with ground beef, gravy and sour cream in it ( amongst other things ) and is served over al dente noodles, something fine and with sufficient texture to catch the sauce up nicely.  It's good, tangy, warm and filling.  I asked for instructions for later when I'm allowed to handle hot and sharp things again.
   Blimey, that stuff's good. 

 

Weregamer 003

   Next thing you'll need is a character to play.  Characters are also known as Player Characters or PCs.  You my use a pre-oprinted character sheet or you may draw your won.  I prefer the latter method as the pre-printed lot rarely arrange the information in an order that is useful TO ME.
   There are methods for character generation outlined in every Player's rule set for every game in existence ( so far as I'm aware. )  Your referee will indicate the method it desires for making your character.  This is the first thing for which you will use the dice.  You'll roll a selection of dice a specified number of times and record the values on scratch paper.  From these you will select/ arrange the numbers to the six to nine or so attributes that make up your character's base abilities.  These go in boxes or spaces marked with things like but not limited to:
 Strength
 Dexterity
 Brains
 Charm
 Mental Endurance
 Karma
 Physical Prowess
( The Weregamers amonst us will note I've used terms from several different game systems, it was deliberate. )
   In some game systems you won't need to do anything else with those numbers until it comes time to adjudicate actions you make or the effects of actions taken near/upon you.  In most systems you will subsequently modify the base numbers by the skills and/or occupation you choose and/or with modifiers that come from armour, weapons, magic, mutant or psychic powers and/or Divine Grace.  which takes us to:
   Choose your occupation and/or skills.  Are you a warrior, priest, psychic, mutant?  Do you know first aid or do you swim?  Can you use antique slug throwers, rail guns or siege weaponry?  I always require a domestic skill such as cooking, sewing, gardening and suggest at least one employable skill to help keep your charatcer should it find itself with a long recovery time or stranded somewhere out there....
   You will also need to choose or roll for personal details  ( if in use ) such as race, gender, family members, education level, etc.  The lists vary from game to game as do the methods but the idea is have a bit of info to sketch a background for the character and something for the referee to use for placing you in the game world.
   Your referee will have informed you before and likely during character genration what type of world your character will be in.  To give you some idea, assuming all can relate to the references would be anything from Middle Earth to the world in The Golden Compass to the high tech space faring world of Babylon 5.  Games like this are not limited feudal European settings or Arthurian legend by any means.
   Character generation can take as little as twenty minutes or as long as an hour and a half depending on the system and the refereee's preference.  As a referee of nearly thirty years, I prefer this part of it not take more than an hour with experienced players but allow about twice that for new players as there will be questions and explanations.
.
   Now, at the end of that hour ( or two ) you will have a character.  You will have rattled dice, collected numbers, chosen race, occupation, skills, equipment and arms.  You may have powers or spells.  You will likely have a little cash.  So who are you?  Or, a bit more accurately, who is the new being that you will be portraying?  What kind of personality is this one?  Is it  sunny, moody, irreverant, possessed of overweening pride, secretly still mad at the world because of ( insert reason from past, ) is it a slut, is it parsimonious, sanctimonious or a self blinded biggot with a shoe fetish?  Is it Human, Leonid, Naruni, Dwarven, Werefox or a crystalloid intelligence?  When not adventuring, where does it live, what does it do and what is it's native culture/homeworld like?
   Now take on that character, that persona you have loving given a very strange and labourious birth.  Your job is to portray your character faithfully.  The referee will present you all else momentarily....
 

Haiku Trio

      Cut from Mindlesse Monday and reposted here as I felt they deserved more attention
.
   golden summer days                      bathe now in moonlight                  greet the rising sun
shimmering, velvet evenings            hear the night symphony             breakfast in the rosy glow
   sterling moon smiling                          dance until dawn                         lose yourself in me

Sexy Tuesday

  In honour of our first Sexy Tuesday here I have changed my avatar for the day.

Weregamer 002

Place the following items into a bag, pack or wheeeled suitcase with pop out handle:
.
Dice
Player's rule set for the game in question
Three ring binder
Plastic sheet protectors that accept your paper and are fitted to go in the ring binder
Paper
Pen, pencil and eraser
Snacks
Light wrap such as a fleece throw or a " hoodie "
Clean shirt and undergarments
Deodourant stick
Toothbrush
Taxi fare
Lunch/dinner/coffee house money
ALL meds you may need over a 4 to 8 or more hour time period.
Music CDs
Anything else you reasonably need for the duration of the session.
Anything else instructed by referee.
.
You are now equipped in basic for your first Weregaming session.

Mindlesse Monday

   Now and then I have that peculiar sensation of having a dozen things I want to speak to and then, once I'm in front of the blank page, having all evaporate in an instant.  It is the same as in the past when I closed and returned a journal to the shelf or put the cover on the typewriter and tidied the desk around it.  The act of preparing to write later on disrupted the actual writing process.
   I hate when that happens.
.
   Sumatra has a volcano just erupted for the first time in four centuries.  Wonder what that will do to global weather dysfunction?  I am also reminded volcanos erupting are often accompanied by, or are the product of, tectonic activity.  I don't know about you but I want nowhere near the Ring of Fire just now.
.
   I seem to be waking for about twelve to sixteen hours, sleeping for two and repeating the cycle.  Rough but not as bad as it might be.  I prefer it to awake three days, sleep five or six hours and repeat.
.
   Roses, berries, tomatoes, pomegranates, gladiolii...  this is such fragrant and delicious time of year.  It is also the time of year for fairs, fireworks, ice cream socials and long evenings listening to live jazz in open air coffee bars and bistros.  I'll be running about this week visiting and photographing a number of these for a regional publication.  For me it is a series of entertaining daytrips/nightflights.  For those who see what is ultimately chosen from the pictures it will be a summary of recent local events and partial listing of seasonal night life.  I still find it incredible after all these years I actually get paid to do this  Happy, prowling Nightbane.
.
   I've got Ahn for bit.  His dad ate something made him swell and had to go to hospital, his mum dropped him off with Mrs Q.  Mrs Q only got back from the dentist a little while before.  She came to the fence and told today was a good day to work on my karma.  I'm delighted to have Ahn.  We like playing with blocks and finger paints.  He also likes playing in the inflatable pool S brought home for him.  We have quite the flotilla for him to command including three yellow ducks.  He still prefers the red blocks to all.  Good thing the blocks float.
   Ahn's dad will be alright.  I get to keep Ahn for a while until his Auntie comes in from the port city and can take him until his parents are settled again.
   For those of you who aren't aware, Ahn is the seven month old great grandson of my neighbour directly behind us called Mrs. Q.  Ahn is Chinese, not yet walking, very round and the epitomé of cuteness.  His nickname is Baby Hatpin.

Weregamer 001

  
                                      The first thing all Weregamers need is dice.

 

Referee's Golden Dice