Malor

The past two Symbols were rushed affairs to me, mainly due to having to work on Friday and never properly de-stress before going in character. Not this time. So much happened that I will try to stick to the highlights and observations (though knowing me that will be too damned long still).

Preparation was fairly easy, with a part being done as early as preparing for Myriad: going through my stacks of physreps and getting out all the various bits and bobbins for Oehoe, as well as getting the Aegolius 2.0 costume (thanks, Helen and wannabe_bitch!). Getting all the luggage together was fairly easy, though I had to replan my pick up runs due to Cora and Rennie joining me (JW did not know if he could get off until the last minute). Also had a snag in my logistical planning as one of the new poles for my big tent was not up to the load and cracked while testing. A backup was found and packed, and just before 12 we all loaded up and left towards the Symbols grounds. I drove there at a leisurly pace, meeting JW again halfway at a gasstation, and we arrived there between 1 and 2, with plenty of time to spare. The tent was set up, sleeping places claimed and friends greeted, after which we raided the local snackbar as we did not know when it would close shop (the First of May being an important holiday). It all turned out that we had plenty of time, so after a good meal it was time to dig up the costumes and go in-character, for this four-day Symbols.

It was hard getting out of the starting block and had a difficult time with a few things, still a throwback to last year's situation at work, but some laptop-assisted downtime and a good chat with the Symbols Orga sorted it, and despite the startup trouble I really got into gear around Saturday Afternoon, staying in my 'flow' till time-out on Sunday, healing people, saving the Sun from extinction, bandaging, making potions and even working on a murder investigation which will likely keep me busy till well into the next Symbols.
Biggest thing on my program was finding a cure for the Changeling problem, or at least a better solution then the Mira-potion, which only works on willing Changelings (so no cure for Changelings who are too far into the change to have any higher brainfunctions left). Had some minor succes, but some kind of auto-regenerating Thama-proporties in the blood managed to baffle my research. Still, blood is the key now, and I intend not to stop for anything (including a death threat, which I duly ignored as I have any ace up my sleeve the size of Kansas).
Noticable this time especially was a more open attitude between the various groups. In the past Nightkin, Changelings and Children of Nature already freely intermingled, assisting each other in problems, patching up their hurt and respecting the various cultural traditions / 'things' that each race had. The Guardians were the odd one out, though, especially the Blackhammers, which had caused some IC/OC friction, but a good open discussion had sorted a lot of things out. While there had been a few individual 'openings' in the first day, it was most pronounced just after dinner on Saturday, when we played in-character tag with pretty much the whole village. I don't know when it started, but with all the problems having pressed on our moods for days you could almost litterally feel the tension draining as we 'frolicked' through the village, replacing the normal long 'after-dinner-dip' (a lot of people have trouble getting back up to IC speed after dinner) with some in-character fun. Incoming wounded soldiers quickly made us coming back to business, but all groups - especially the Blackhammers - have made strides to put aside a lot of the more radical differences and just 'be'.
The village had a fairly happy mood, despite loss of magic, two armies (Venada vs. T'dora) fighting a war nearly, Ixo's and termites, mostly because everybody was determined to live on their lives to the fullest. Was 'veil-holder' at the wedding between Drass and Ina (something the Guardians assure me is a position of honor), was invited to the engagement between Rallin and Ashala and had a lot of general planning fun with trying to get the Sun to mate ("hump already, you're going extinct"). It is this type of play that I really like, because it keeps my character very grounded as just the village alchemist. Personal highlight for me as babysitting a next of eggs of a Changeling, and them hatching, so I had a next of cute hatchlings.
The Changeling group was somewhat debilitated due to the absence of Vaj, Julian having decided to NPC in lieu of PC due to a few snags, but we managed to keep ourselves in the game due to assisting with and reinforcing on several things going on with the other three main groups in the village. Without leadership issues we are a bit more relaxed, but I sincerely hope we can return to some bearer kicking next time with Vaj back in the fray. Did manage to score nicely against the Ixo's, as I had been saving herbs that they dislike for over a year and a half (ever since meeting them in the Land Beyond the Great Bridge, aka the other continent in the Symbols world). We'd been finding eggs and Ixo's all weekend, so we suspected an egg-laying Queen nearby (to the point of me kicking Elana to go find the bloody thing) but it wasn't till it litterally took over the council tent that we could finally hit something, and the seven phials of anti-Ixo stuff were deployed. Score for preparation. In the end they also turned out to have something to do -sideways- with the loss of Magic that our Mages had, but that was a different story where I could do little else then babysit the bottle of mana that the mages gave me for safe keeping. Did manage to burn my hands trying to whip up an emergency truth-serum for Killburn, but at least did not blow myself up.

All in all, a good Symbols. Have an idea for a special now, but will give it time till everybody has rested.

Was home before 10, even after dropping Jules and Mone off home, and after a quick emailcheck plonked down on the couch to watch the last bit of the Matrix II which happened to be on after some random zapping. Watched the end while Lies promptly fell asleep nestled against me, so I took the hint and suggested bed once she woke up. Slept for eight hours. My next week I'll spend in Delft as the school is closed, and I will keep my evenings chill as I prepare for my third week of larp, this time as Ambrogino 'Gino' Schnoodaert, member of the Schnoodaert family at Aon.

Edit: Ugh. Got sick and spent the last day hugging a bucket on the couch. Dunno what happened, but hope to be ready for Aon. Blegh.

So, the first big thing has come and gone: Myriad I. Jules has made his first steps on the road to the SL Prestige Class (though he insists on calling it differently), and Myriad I was a cool thing to start with. The PC's and NPC's had a few very weird things to work with, not to mention the SL's, but that went well. Biggest oepsie was a thing was a lost key, so that was not really a biggie once it was found. It was good being back on the Inca grounds, and saw the new Goblin story, too. Also had a sneak preview at the first few Long Strike's, and ate at the Pannenkoekenbakker. It took a bit for me to find my path as SL here, especially since I am there to support Dennis and Wietse mainly, together with JW, but hanging with my SL buddies is really a lot of fun. With a mix between tried-and-tested crew and several people 'new' at their chosen job it all went well. On to the next one, late August.

Myriad I also marks the end of my 'organisational' season before I return to the ranks of the players till the next big event to come on my way. For the next few months I'll be playing and NPC'ing. Woot.

With that I came to my Summer Planning, long delayed due to planning with my new job, but after planning it is quite clear my summer is shaping up quite nice. Sonsbeek, Drachenfest, Charm and several EE 'specials' are making it a very active summer, combined with a trip to London, too, for some book hunting. A lot of peeps have been asking me on my blog or on the Elf when I was planning to attend Sonsbeek, and after checking my schedule and running through my vacation I will likely attend Game I from June 13th through 15th, and perhaps Game III as well; Lies will be joining me for Game III, but she will miss the first one due to it being dead smack in the middle of her exam period. No idea what I will play yet, but the site is being updated all the time and the forum is up and running so I think I'll get to choose soon. It'll be interesting to see the evolution of the game between the 'sessions', and the production side of the whole thing has started, too. Jum.

The week is fairly quiet, with me doing some patch work at school, but since it is closed next week I will be doing a few jobs for OGD at the Delft HQ. Ate at John & Yasmijn's in Schoonhoven lastnight, but I went home fairly early to put my girl to bed, who, as direct assistant of Julian during Myriad, was quite tired. Played out the campaign mode of the Kane's Wrath expansion and found it quite engaging... though in the end it was a bit lacking. You play as Nod throughout the entire campaign, and it ends with a cliffhanger; both liking well-rounded chapters (cliffhangers are cheap) and being a staunch GDI player I dove into the Skirmish mode and promptly found that playing GDI's Steel Talon subfaction really suits my playing style, far better then the stealthy cloak-and-dagger Noddie tactics. Big Mechs, air superiority and Ion Cannon FTW!
During Queensday I will rummage through the local second hand markets that pop up through the region at that day, cause I love it for finding nice books and cheap larping props, and the rest of the day will be spent packing for the four days of Symbols. Thursday I'll pick Mone up early and go to the grounds to set up my tent for Oehoe, and I plan to be done early so I can give a hand to the crew there, too. The four-day thing is bound to be pretty heavy, so whatever I can do to help I'll do. By the time that is all said and done it will be Sunday again and time for my OGD job in Delft, but that is pretty much a good thing so I can pick up Kaas and Mone's stuff for Aon the weekend after. And once that is all done, it is time for my brother's wedding. Yes, interesting.

The sign-ups for Lex and Exodus are also open, for the Oktober and November events, and that has unofficially also given the start-sign for planning a few 'specials' for situations to play out and things to so. In the next few months I'll be travelling around with my fellow storytellers to check out locations and play out a few small things here and there to set everything up for the fifth Exodus and the sixth Lex allready. Time flies.

ca·thar·sis (plural ca·thar·ses), noun: an experience or feeling of spiritual release and purification brought about by an intense emotional experience. In psychology, the process of bringing to the surface repressed emotions, complexes, and feelings in an effort to identify and relieve them, or the result of this process.

So, first up, I made ETC. It was a long day, longer still over the fact that the plan was changed and instead of a morning and afternoon session we had a full day with all the group, and dinner afterwards. Made pics, though, am happy and have my certification. Was very tired but satisfied. The Friday afterwards I felt very... cleansed, for some reason. Slept long and well, packed and picked up Ren & Cora to go to the EE weekend in Parc Loohorst, Center Parcs. We were there as the first group, and the housie was pretty cool. The rest arrived as the afternoon progressed, with brave Olga coming by bicycle. *grin* So we had a weekend of chilling together, dreaming of things to come (such as Extinction), watch decent horror to the absolute worst horror movies, had a traditional pool tussle, grilled food, played midget-golf and had a general good time. It was a good idea to put the weekend after our event-cycle, for it allows for a far more relaxed athmosphere. It thorougly regenerated me.

The week following that was fairly quiet but full of unexpected events. Had a flat tire, a good talk with my dad, a sleepness night, an Eldar vs. Imperial Battlefleet Gothic fight and no Crossfire. Watched all of Dexter, helped deal with a few logistical things for Myriad, cleaned my laptop and those kind of things. It was a weird week, but a good one.

Saturday I went to the Elf Fair, as a visitor for the first time in 5 years (the first in the Archeon and the first in De Haar were the only one's I actually attended as a normal visitor), and I enjoyed myself well. First on the program was Prof. Rotherham offc, with an interesting lecture about dragons in the beautiful Chapel, with Boris Valejo drawing in the background. Also recieved a call that my mother and her partner were on their way as well, so hung around with them a bit, too. Ran into several good friends and had all the time in the world to have a good chat with them, and shopped a bit at a few stands.
The Elf had a very disjointed feel, this year. Science-Fiction and Manga were thrown in the mix, too, and it appears as if the Elf wants to project itself more internationally and as a platform. Was happy with the increased amount of big stands for larpstuff, but a lot of the smaller bookstands that I generally find most of my loot was not present. Costumes were pretty cool, though it is weird to have sci-fi, manga and fantasy mix (I like Spock as much as the next trekkie, but when wearing my Oehoe costume it doesn't feel... right). Only thing I raised a few eyebrows over was the 'crossplay'; had heard of - and admire greatly - cossplay, the act of dressing up as characters from various manga related things. The costumes are hardly larpproof and practical, but sport truly fantastical designs and impossible curves, which I can appriciate as a design challenge (okay, okay, AND severe cuteness factor). Crossplay is basically crossdressing as a manga character; androgynous Japanese can get away with throwing on some cat's ears and a pink mini-dress to look the part, but seriously, guys, a bit more effort for my eyes sake. Thank you. Did drool over the Stargate uniforms, as usual. I wants one.
Loot was dissapointing over the aforemented reasons, only a single computergame: Command & Conquer III - Kane's Wrath, the expansion to C&C III. Guess I am going to have to loot my books somewhere else. All in all, I had good fun at the Elf and spent most of the time socializing and rummaging around; the coin system of previous years had been dumped, leading to more streamlined queues at foodstands, and I had no trouble parking and getting off the carpark again. Good show, at least from the visitor side. A good day, but not over yet.
Lies wanted to catch the final movie of the Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival, so we went to Amsterdam, first eating at Gauchos, then having icecream desert at the Hagen-Daz, and then catching Doomsday, a movie about a killer virus on the loose in Scotland, forcing the Brits to close Scotland off from the outside world, reducing it to a barbarian state. It was a fun movie with cyberpunk, post-apocalypse and fantasy elements, all with a lot of British humor a la Mad Max, and I had a hoot. We were home around 11.
Sunday I mostly rested and chilled, running a partial Heroic with Jo, JW and Lies, and playing both my new C&C as well as Sins of a Solar Empire, a combination between Battlestar Galactica and Civilization, and its really scratching my itch. Check it out of you like those kinda series / games.

So, that leaves me in the week before the 'Three Weeks of Larp', the larping high-season, so to speak. First up will be Myriad, where I will be assisting Jules as SL and Lorekeeper. Looking forward to the whole new ballgame there, and the fact that it is a whole new playground for me, and the players. There is a lot of experimentation in the mix, though, and it will be interesting what will be concocted.
After coming home on a Sunday to two free days and Queensday before diving into four days of Symbols. With a new set of Alchemical gear, a new costume and a few new accesoires, I am very well prepared. Was able to take my sweet time, this time, without overly stressing, and that really gave me a good boost in planning for my coming Symbols. Having experience with both the Summoning and DF when it comes to 4 day events I know I will have to pace myself, but this being Symbols and a village it should work just fine. If I get really tired I can always go OC for a bit to play Symbols - The Card Game...
After that I have a fairly relaxed week and then Aon with the Schnoodaert family. We are organizing the famous 'Biggenwerp Festival' (pigthrowing) this event, and we hope to have a good turn-out for this day of merriment and alcohol consumption. I have a few parts in the greater whole, and I am looking forward to all of them. It is just a great group to hang in, and my hair will be long enough for my plans by them. Wait and see.

In the background I am also playing around abit with Yoshida Masuo thanks to Ro and Suus passing the Clan a few downtime snippets, and it is fun to keep my character 'warm' this way. With the Summer Vacation creeping closer I really feel like this year, and now things are reaching a stable platform I feel happy. And that is important.

Better update then last time, at the very least. First up: thanks for the offers of support and ideas on fixing transport, but luckily the garage came through for me. They saw the transmission was deteriorating and instead of patch-fixing it they replaced the whole thing. Essentially over half the moving parts in my car is new now, and they did it all under warrenty. So I'm good and I got wheels again.

On the WoW front I am working hard on the Shattered Sun Offensive, the big Sha'tar invasion of the Demon and Blood-Elf held Sunwell Isle. The server is making a good show for itself, consistantly doing their dailies, and we are deep into Phase 3 now, having conquered the Armory and working on the Harbor (for you non-WoW'ers, the more quests done for the invasion, the better it goes. It takes a server-wide effort to advance it). I religiously do all my dailies, having advanced to over half of Revered status and on to Exalted. It promises some nice trinkets for me, a decent rep and plenty of cloth and magic items that my Priestess Aisli can disenchant. I've been stockpiling materials for Crossfire with my main and alt so we can mitigate the costs and time of our Epics when we hit 70. And yes, I want the same outfit for Aisli as her big 'sister' Xasandra, played by Jo.
Last Saturday we tried our hands at the new Instance, Magister's Terrace, but had terrible luck with the final boss, eventually just postponing killing him till a little later. Still, I got some new armor out of it and have made some serious headway into making my main a kick-ass mage. Currently my gear is already good enough to survive Kara, so I am happy. I divide my current WoW time between doing my dailies, catching a few battlegrounds a day and helping friends run through dungeons such as Gnomeregan and Scarlet Monastary.

On the RL front work has picked up a bit, but I hope it to go slower again. I still have time to do my thing so that is important, and in the past few weeks I have had the time to help out a few friends with their larps and organisational stuff and that makes me happy. I am itching to go back to some serious playing, though, and when I got word that Helen had finished my new Aegolius 2.0 robe I was positively bouncing. She made the original robe, currently having served me well throughout all the previous Symbols, several specials and two guest performances at BBB and Vortex, and still going strong, but the character needed some upgrading to reflect his new status. So there. Together with the Schnoodaerts, fyrane especially, I've been conspiring the coming Aon, and looking very much forward to it, and even the Yoshida side is picking up with several letters sparking a lot of research from my side. It's itching.
The coming week will see the last of my ETC self-management course. It has been a toughie, but I have learned a lot. Thing is, I don't know if I will pass the course. I've dutifully made my assignments, but feedback had not really occured, and I don't know what my current 'status' is (strange for a person who generally gets good grades and calculates what grades he should have at final exam to pass). It is all a bit fuzzier then what I am used to, and this is both good and bad. Also, I'm not used to failure at this personal level; I rarely, if ever, fail things like courses, and I have the feeling that tomorrow there is a Deus Ex Machina waiting for me the size of Kansas. Perhaps it is just another lesson to learn. It would be typical of Mariella, the course organizer. She'd do well at Lex.

How Machiavellian.

In any case, it has not been a waste of time, regardless the result. I've learned. I will take the lessons to heart.

Beyond that I am happily planning my vacation with Lies, making the most of our gained time; we'll prolly take Rome this year, but want atleast another vacation, local or not. And on the subject of vacation, I'm going away this weekend to Parc Loohorst with EE, to spend the weekend in a vacationhouse with nearby pool and jacuzzi to talk, plan but most of all have fun now that our 'season' has ended (October - November - Februari - March). We choose a location closer to home then last time, so I'm expecting a wonderfully relaxing weekend.

So now I'm going outside to have lunch in the sun and enjoy the first budding of Spring. We're back.

Blegh.

I had planned a fairly quiet and relaxing weekend, but blegh. Would love to tell you about an busy but very okay week, but mainly this is about my car. Or rather, lack of. You see, I don't have much luck with them. After the Malkari Mobile, Kaylee and Prima, this is the fourth car I really personally own. Cars are expensive to buy, expensive to keep and expensive to drive, but it kinda gives me my 'wings', my freedom to go where I will, and to bring friends with it (and a generous mount of luggage). If something goes wrong with them, I kinda feel 'clipped' and it hits rather hard.

So, on my way to lunch in Amsterdam on Saturday she started giving me trouble, losing power when approaching higher speeds and generall being irregular with the amount of engine power transmitted to the drive. Had to limp her back to Krimpen from Amsterdam after, sinking my weekend plans, and making me scared of going up dikes, hills or bridges lest she lose power completely while on the freeway or sumfink. Called the garage, who will take care of it (as it is well into guarantee), but feel miffed. Will also get replacement transport, but remembering the incident last time I got replacement transport I feel rather sceptical.

Blegh.

Fast posts. Not my style, but once in a while you find something that merits it.

http://www.sonsbeeklive.org

Before you go "another one!?", bear with me. Late last year maglok pinged a few of us to check something out with him, a project that was slated for summer 2008. An artist wanted to do a larp concept and had hired a Danish larp organiser to do it, and they wanted to meet a few of us to discuss their plans, cause it sounded mighty interesting. It was a weird vibe, that afternoon, as I said earlier in this post. Fact remains that our Danish organizer, Bjarke Pedersen has among other things organized Knutepunkt 2007, the closest thing larp has to something like GenCon. His larping accolades include Live Warhammer, larping in a Submarine and a youth larping program on a scale that absolutely boggled us.
The artist, Brody, wanted to do this for the Arnhem festival Sonsbeek 2008, a massive art festival in the park itself, all Summer. The larp is therefore going to be sponsored in both infrastructure, location and resources by the festival itself, providing a support system that larps generally only dream of. That Sunday we met the support crew and the people involved, had a great time and found out that Danish larpers are just as good as most in the 'no shit, there I was...' moments as any Dutchees. We walked away with a weird sort of tingle in our stomachs... something new was afoot.

Our job in all of this: let the Dutch larpers know it exists. Without 'local' support, something like this won't work, and while Bjarke could call in Danish larpers, he wanted Dutchees.

So, here is my salespitch:
- Only this summer.
- Unique location, for just this one time.
- Cheap due to heavy sponsoring.
- They provide partial costumes and full food benefits, with the infrastructure of an entire organisation behind it.
- We can ignore other visitors to the park.
- Nordic style larping in the Netherlands
- Several weekends in the Summer, so multiple chances to attend.
- Unique chance to do something very different and have a lot of fun doing it.

I myself am going to take a long hard look at my Summer's vacation to decide with to do, but I want to attend at least one thing. The chance is just too good to pass up. And just to get it straight: no Dutchee organisers have anything to do with it other then to let people know it exists, including myself. Me, I intend to play there, and claim the Wizard's Tower for myself!

Spread the word.

Lately I've been going through stacks of older larp pics, mostly looking for kewl pics of friends to put on my wall. I also love all the nostalgic feelings and 'no shit, there I was...' moments that come flooding back.

But that is not the subject of this post. It is cool to see an upward turn in things such as costumes and weapons, but that is a fairly natural thing as the hobby itself 'matures' (pun intended). What I do notice is the increasing use of technology and theater experience in larps I attend. Part of this is also due to the increasing level to which technology is integrated in our own lives, but Vortex for instance is no longer unique in having dedicated electrical and special fx people. I hear things being discussed such as 'lighting plans', and people toting around notebooks with maps of the grounds and where all the electrical resources are.
Looking at EE we're toting around several laptops, mix sound and music for certain larps, make vigorous use of desktop publishing programs for physreps and have become quite good with images and video. I'm pretty used (spoiled, one might say) to having internet where-ever we go with EE, and the Symbols grounds have their own wireless network for the sound fx when they are there, too. We've done stuff with lasers, beamers, smokegenerators and several smaller electricals, to the point that we have to be careful not to overload the local electrical net. And we're no exception, nor the forerunner in these things. Symbols makes heavy use of such things, going far beyond what they started with. And ambitions keep growing. Many other larps also heavily use those, especially in the last two years. Lex, being modern age and an extreme example, sees more equipment being dragged to the location then I've ever seen anywhere, mostly due to JW and Simon who want to have their Foresight Security Suite...

Where does it go? What do we think will be used next? Are we talking holographic generators in a few years time? I open the floor.

Tough week. Very tough week.

The week started quiet enough, with a fairly quiet Monday, but I was not feeling up to spec. At work a few systems did not entirely cooperate, and KPN still had not installed the new router for our 100 mbit line, and I was getting very miffed. A lot of students returned from their internship and had all gotten new passwords in the snailmail, but few if any remembered that or had the paper with them, so I massively resetted all the passwords and tried to sort out their various questions. I was tired. Worse yet, a few systems went down at the end of the day, and I got them back up, but couldn't trace the reason before I had to get myself to Amsterdam. I was on time for the birthday of Lies' mom, but would have appriciated more time to work on my OGD presentation which I was supposed to show Friday in front of the Jaarvergadering in the Efteling.
Tuesday I was not feeling well yet, and the day was more a question of letting it all happen and getting through it then actually working, so I took the hint and made sure that I took it easy on Wednesday, also already packing a few necessary Exodus things and preparing to load the cart, as the weather for the end of the week was looking somewhat grim. I must honestly say I was not very much looking forward to Thursday: the 'actor-day' of the OGD self-management course in which we would be faced with an actor playing scenes from what we saw as tough situations, trying to improve upon those. I came face to face with a few tough situations and had to swallow several times, as my lessons were "learn to trust" and "give and take". While the day itself was also a lot of fun this is not something I want to do soon again, mostly cos it is hard to let my guard down and take it, and immensely tiring. The group were a lot of good people, though, and the organizer and actor both professional and caring; also, the restaurant we used as the same as where we did the first run of "De Glorie van Altenstad", so it carried good memories. The dinner at the end was a bridge too far for me, though, at the end of my 'people-tolerance' and tired it just felt like taking too long. I prefer my catharsis with a group like this around a big table loaded with plentiful but simple grub. I'll suggest it.
Friday saw Exodus, but first the OGD Jaarvergadering. The massive hail-storms made loading go very slow, and Cora and myself had to leave for the Efteling early enough. Turned out my hunch was correct, because we were there with 'only' half an hour to spare, having been delayed due to a storm-damaged Moerdijkbrug. The busses from Amsterdam and Rotterdam were also delayed, so I had plenty of time to fret and get really nervous socialize. They also rearranged my presentation due to the late-comers to make the schedule fit, so I suddenly was the opening presentation. Gulp. Got up there, was happy to see some friendly faces (Cora, Joost and Jolanda, mainly, coupled with plenty of OGD and larp buddies) and blurted it out. After one more presentation we had a break, and Cora and myself went to Exodus, to which I will devote its own post, as usual.
Exodus was a great deal of fun. The location was good again, and this time we also had an extra building: the tower in the water kindly lent to us by the Delftse Zwervers. Players were responsive, NPC's were absolutely great and a lot of people pitched in. Was home on Sunday fairly early and had a traditional end-of-larp dinner with Cora and Rene. Spent most of my Monday regenerating but made a quick hop to Utrecht to meet up with maglok and selmaika to discuss Symbols plays. That being done I happily returned home and spent the rest of my evening alternatively cuddling the exam-stressed girlfriend (exams this week) and playing some WoW and Dawn of War: Soulstorm.

Tough week, yes. But a happy one.

It turned out to be an amazingly quiet week at the school, being test week, to the point that I went home early on Tuesday. Spending all the leftover time with my girlfriend and helping my brother out with several of his weddingplans. All in all, not a bad week...

( Test - cause everybody's doing it *grin* )

After riding an energy high for nearly two weeks, I've came down somewhat this week. It was fairly intensive, and it was only natural with my energy surging I'd have a 'lesser' period coming. I know, counted on it and managed to take it quite well. I just have to be careful not to overdo it. This weekend I had relative rest, with a plotmeet for Exo, some WoW-ing and the movie '27 Dresses' (which is hilarious, go see it), and that is that. Today I am taking it easy, with a free night tomorrow and a fairly quiet week to follow. The weekend will see some D&D, and Friday I will take off. I have the spare hours, so I'll shorten this work week a bit.

Other then that, Fred is driving well. Had to get used to it a bit, but am very happy. Weight loss is still going slowly and consistantly, and I cought myself having to wear belts in my jeans again to prevent me going for the skater look. The next few weeks will see the last Exodus preparations and a lot of resting for me. Have been going through my old files, reading texts I had not touched in 8 years and seeing pics of old friends again; made me realize that I am really happy where I am now, and that I am lucky with the cool people I have. Also made me realize how far I've come, but also how far I've yet to go. Still, I was able to cross several youth-dreams off my list with a satisfied 'been there, done that'; how many people can say that before the are 30? Jum.

So, short one compared to my regular posts, but that is all I have to tell. Catch you on the flipside.

So, its been a happy though exhausting few days.

Thursdaymorning I had the ETC management session, which was tough but very refreshing. Tis cool to work on my 'core programming' in constructive manners with others who are honest (sometimes bluntly so) about their lives and opinions; we are widely different but share a love for fantasy books, gaming and the fact that nearly all of us went over the hill of burn-out. Suffice to say we have seen the pit, merrily waved at it and decided to take a detour. Very refreshing but incredibly tiring.
My car wasn't done on Friday, but I did not give the garage a hard time about it. They were really pulling out all the stops on my Fiat, so I'm pretty happy. Dad made no trouble of me borrowing the Fiat for a few days so I was mobile as his girl also had a car, which made my weekend possible. Had JW over on Friday for WoW. Together with a Rogue from JW Guild we ran through the Black Morass in one go, easier then I expected. I had the task of stopping the various forces going for the dude we were supposed to protect and I managed to keep him safe, so I was pretty happy; we also did a few group-quests in the Blade's Edge Mountains and did a run with several alts through the Ramparts of Hellfire Peninsula. My main is up to spec, and with more and more high-level characters on the server I find that it is getting easier and easier to dungeon. Jum. Also: playing WoW when a storm is raging outside adds to the mood. *grin*
Saturday was a bit tiring but okay, with first my mom's bday and then the Vendatta Vampire Live session in Delft, in the Boterhuis. One of the storytellers had mailed me on Thursday with the question if I could host it, which was a bit of a nervous thing for me (being a nefarious storyteller with Lex really made me realize with a ****-job Keeper of Elysium is...), and somehow, somewhere I felt Chris, Manon and Judith laughing at me. But I came through, had a good session and collected mucho good info which throw me back into the game without much problems.
The next day was the B-day of my dad's partner, Henny. In typical Burger-family-style it was a surprise party, ie. a bus full of her family from all over the country turning up to party. We first headed to Delft and had a guided tour. Rather weird to be getting the tour barely 12 hours after leaving the Vampire session not a 100m away, but hey... Best bit: visited the Prinsenhof. I love this country with its history so I was also loving this bit. I like places where I can feel history... where I can imagine. No surprise there. After that we had dinner in Bergschenhoek and went home again. Chilled a little here, watched Atlantis. Then monday, back to work.

My new Oehoe costume is nearly finished. Haven't seen it yet, though I have all manner of faith in the girl making it for me, since the Oehoe 1.0 robe was her creation as well, all those years ago. Which made me realise how long I've been playing Symbols again. Fun fun. And with 4 days of Symbols looking back at me in less the two months, I'm all good to go. Been reading Confessions of a Part-time Sorceress, a hilarious book about girl gamers. As I know that several gaming ladies read my blog: it's cool and very funny. Give it a read, or borrow my copy.

Other then that, I keeping having this spring in my step. Loving it. Renewal is here, passing through me and over me, and also several friends. Good times are ahead.

Took a bit to find my rhythem again, especially since there is a lot of extra time for me now, but it is coming along smoothly.

On the first real monday of my new job Vincent gave me a call. He lives nearby (about 1 km) where I work, and we met up. Talked, ate, chilled and had an overall good time. Came home just before Lies returning from Utrecht, and made me feel really good: this is the type of stuff that I for a long time did not have time for. Tuesday I had Alternity, which was great as usual, though I am going to get their behinds out of the repairing business ;-); Simone makes a habit of coming, too, to satisfy her WoW-urge. Wednesday really helped with WoW itch, diving back into Crossfire after New Year's / Ellen's Move hiatus. We needed only a few minutes to get back on steam, and after that we ran through the Sunken Temple with practiced ease, and we had a lovely session, aftertalking a great deal while making good on our quests that we had to turn in all over Azeroth. As usual the complete story is on Ellen's blog under the Crossfire Tag, which is more and more becoming a Chronicle of a fun party. Thursday I spent quietly with Lies, very important at times.

Friday it was time for the Yoshida weekend, and I'd be leaving early with NoKey, with Lies following after. So around 13:30 we loaded up my small red replacement car and went to Uden's Canadasweg, a haunt familiar to most larpers as much loved special / barnight / event ground. This weekend it would once again be our proud family's estate. Got there later then expected with the trafficjams, but NoKey is good company and had brought both drinks and munchies. We arrived as second group, after Roland, Suus and Gijs and helped get the location in order, including cleaning the floor with high-pressure. Picked Lies up from the station in Oss and when I got back it almost was a swimming pool on the lower floor. I made the bed on the second floor, picking my usual corner and then got back in the car to get food with Suus. Food was much welcome, and more Yoshida's steadily came in from the cold, as the temperature outside fell swiftly way below freezing point. slowly we got ready to go IC, but I made a swift swoop past Uden again to pick up Judith, Gert and Hans.
And from that point it was Masuo all the way. Slipping into costume was easy, with my body remembering the correct way to put everything on. My Samurai had reached the point where it had become second nature, feeling very comfy. Went down and helped decorate a little, and sat down on the floorpillows at the low table with a cup of tea. We chatted a bit OC, but the moment Suus entered (as Mistress of the House the main honcho for the evening) we bowed and went IC, just like that. Jum. What followed was a whirlwind with an assasination attempt (only time at a larp ever where I got back IC after being woken up somewhere in the night), war council, fighting practice, a bar (with me playing the role of some Yakuza, thanks Suus!), and a fun evening to round it all up. In the end I requested to be allowed to go with Yoshida Shiro to wipe out the rebels on Shodo Island (Clan Yoshida is based on Awaji Island), and so my intrepid Samurai is currently playing a game of cat-and-mouse with the dishonorable rebels who refuse all invitations for tea and a decent battle. Sunday was just for waking and cleaning, and with all lending a hand we were done quite early. Hugged our goodbyes and went home. So Sunday I stepped in fairly early but very tired. Ordered in food, downloaded Atlantis and watched some Atlantis and Heroes with Lies, after which we computered a bit. cryssiewillow and I talked a bit on MSN, and on the fly we made an appointment to go to see the movie Jumper on Monday in Utrecht; Lies would be in Utrecht too with her singing lessons, and that way I could chill with Chryssie, catch a movie and save Lies the long ride back afterwards.

So it was written, so it was done. But the plans were slightly changed as Jo and Lies joined us later that night, with singing lessons cancelled. So it was a nice night out, with a reasonable movie, good friends and my favorite city. Dropped Sanne off home afterwards, and drove home in the small loaner car. Tuesday saw Alternity, but also Simone dropping off her comp @ my place so I could build it... was a bit tricky as I had to do some creative driver-hopping in my Windows install to get everything working, but I'll manage. Wednesday was just chilling, with Thursday seeing a plotmeet with EE concerning Exodus *evil grin*. Nothing more said.

Friday I was off at the school I currently work for was closed, so I spent a day blissfully tweaking my laptop and shopping for a new car with my brother and father. In the end we decided on a blue 1999 Fiat Palio 1.6, with all modern safety features, hook-up so I could tow EE's cart, roofrails and plenty of cargospace. Ironically enough after searching all over the country with the aid of Almighty Internet I bought the car less the 15 km's down the road, in Bergambacht. The Terlouw garage, managed by the grandson or great-grandson of the original owner, sold me the car, and he wasn't slick at all... which inspired confidence. The car will also be maintened there, so I have faith. Hopefully she will be mine this weekend.
While normally I'd been at the Symbols specialweekend. I'd decided in an early phase not to go the entire weekend, also due to my tiredness; I had thought of only going to the Changeling Centrum special, but Lies had a lot of problems with it, so we stayed in, also because we both need our quiet time to face the world again, though it still itches. Saturday we went to the Freetime Warrior after buying some furniture at the Karwei; afterward we both went to Juno, a very good movie I can heartily recommend. Laughed a lot, nodded a lot and found it a good story overall that managed to hold my attention due to the sheer mundanity. Got home fairly late, ate, and spent the rest of the night chilling. Sunday we made a quick trip to the dreaded Ikea, coming home with another bookcloset, which I spent an hour putting together. Considering my manly chores done, I spent some quality time with Shogun: Total War (muttering something about physrepping beating rebels out of hills with blue-clad Samurai...).

So, the week of no work began, with a lot of sleeping late and chilling. Had to return my loaner car, though, but spent a quiet evening doing my own administration and a little more gaming. The season of Heroes that we'd been watching was almost done, too (brilliant series, but very fragmented...) so I downloaded Dune and Children of Dune for her. With my laptop and an S-video cable it's pretty easy to watch a good series, so I'm not complaining... Tuesday we did another Crossfire dungeon as my previous engagements had all fallen away and we ran the first half of Blackrock Depths. Had loads of fun, though it is a tough dungeon; Glok is a good guide, but we gotta be very careful... bosses are rarely very simple there, and quite plentiful. Part II soon, though, and then we will finish the dungeon, well underway to the original WoW end-game content. The road to 70 is coming near. Wednesday was quite tough on me: shopping in Amsterdam (very busy city) and late dinner with several OGD'ers also doing the ETC course. Long day, and the prospect of a long ride with public transit back... we were home around 12, but after a good day. Plenty good books as loot, and a happy girlfriend.

Phew, looking back on it that is quite a lot...

The weekend will be fairly busy, with my mom's b-day, plans for Saturday evening and plans for Sunday. Looking forward to it, though, after a week of long rest. There are plenty of things in the pipeline for the next few months, ranging from events, to evenings of Vampire Live, to getting a new costume for the Oehoe, to getting my new car. New names are being suggested, but after due consideration I will most likely be named 'Fred'. A male car? Nooooo; 'Fred' is short for 'Winnifred Burkle', the character from Angel later turned into Illyria, and Old One.

I'm happy. And getting rested.

So, as a parting gift I will leave you with the videoclip and lyrics of a song that has been in my head a lot lately, After Forever's Being Everyone. Very NPC / Larp -ish. I like it.

( Lyrics )

The requisite fototopic, X-posted in a slightly modded form on the larpix community.

( Lextalionis V - long with pics )

My first week on the job was okay. While it is a great assignment I got it because the previous guy who did it died of cardiac arrest at the age of 31. Yeah. THAT young. It feels macabre to be rummaging through a dead man's files and working on his computer. I yet have to make this post my own. Still, it is nice and quiet. For the first time in a long while it is giving me a lot of alone time. Just me and my mind, which has resulted in me spending a lot of quality time with me. Loving it.
The ETC course I started last Thursday from OGD is doing what it is intended to do: make me think about myself. This past year-and-a-half I have just kept going, not stopping to smell the roses. Now, I have to. It is good to be on the introspective side of the spectrum again and that has led me to think a great deal on a simple matter: me always wanting to be special.

In the past I endeavoured to be special for a simple reason: protection. With bullies at every corner, I spent a lot of my formative years amongst those older then me. I performed because I wanted to be special so I could escape the bullies. A little known fact is that I wanted to do Gymnasium instead of Atheneum because I thought that Latin would scare off the popular types, and I was right. After a while I found that I loved it far more then just as protection, but that did not invalidate the original reasons. The last time I thought about this was the NPC weekend before Lextalionis I. We had a run-through test with the Primogen Council and the other NPC's in my old school, the Krimpenerwaard College.
It was incredibly unreal to have my 'new' life and 'new' friends interact with my old life, especially because the music club was practising right across the rooms we were using, and a few local peeps that know me and my family asked me what we were doing, and I explained it in laymen's terms (There was a great moment where. As I was talking to the guy both Suus and Simone walked out of the bathroom in full Torry gear, looking the part. He remarked dryly "I see why you do it". Nope, not my reason, but still funny). At that moment I just realized that my old life couldn't hold a candle to my new one. I was just scared a lot then. Of a lot of things. Though I managed to avoid most bullies I still caught my share of flak, and I was happy to be out of there. I survived by being special, by being allowed to hang with the older kids and the teachers. Best tactic? Perhaps not. But I survived.

Am I still that way? No. I have changed. Grown. Evolved, even. Pun intented.

But there are a few shreds left. Bits of personality that I've only partially even understood, let alone come to terms with. It all boils down to "Who is Sander?". And who is Sna, for that matter? Same person, different aspect? Sna was built as a shield, yes. Is it still? And if yes, is it still necessary? Questions, questions.

So, on with the rest of my life.

Prima's been officially declared dead. Salvage guys are looking her over, and I have made an appointment to check if I still had stuff in there that's worth getting out. There should still be a high-def map of the Uden grounds in there, for instance (never leave home without it *grin*). I have been looking at replacements with my father as I will get her full worth refunded.
So I went to work on Tuesday with Kaylee, who on the way back blew out her gastank. Yep. Blew out. About a year-and-a-half ago a repair was done to the tank, and appearently the new pump has rotated her way through the bottom of the tank. Luckily the tank was only a quarter full, and I managed to park her in front of my house, but she is not going anywhere. So, down two cars in the span of twice as many days I took up my insurance company's offer on replacement transport, to be picked up Wednesday. Went to work with public transport and went to Lekkerkerk after work to pick up the loan-car. It was a relaxing bus-ride and a nice walk through the hinterlands of the Krimpenerwaard. A lot of the old industry, mainly ship-building, is still there, and it feels familiar, somehow. I'd quite been looking forward to the loaner. Always one to drive different types of cars I had hoped for one of the new Fiats or Volkswagens. What I got was a Daihatsu Cuore, just a tiny touch smaller then Suus' Yoshi car, and just as red. I could not help but see the humor in that, and in my red tin can I drove out of Lekkerkerk, laughing.
Thursday Lies went to Within Temptation with Jo, and I went to Utrecht to evaluate Lex. Drove away quite happy to find that the girls had beat me home and were chilling, too. Jo stayed the night as she had OGD course on Fridaymorning. I went to work then and called it a day fairly early as it was quiet. Started the weekend early and well, with beautifull weather and a good mood. Prepped my WoW main, Galadaeros, for the coming raid on Steamvaults, which we managed to do quite easly once we got warmed up, finishing very early and doing the complete Ogre King Questline to boot, which involved five bosses. Also prepped Aisli for the upcoming Crossfire excursion to the Sunken Temple. I've missed Crossfire. Spent the rest of my weekend chilling, walking, going to Sweeney Todd (good movie) and working on my last Lex thing for a bit: send the debriefing.

With the weekend looking fantastic I was in a great mood. Good weather, nice plans. Was happily afterdipping Lex, and suddenly got "The Itch". The sun was shining, I was feeling the cool wind on my skin and standing there barefeet in my bathrobe with a cup of coffee, it struck me: it is high time to larp. A program on discovery featured Ray Mears, the survival expert, recreating an old bow and arrows with a bowyer using stone age tools. Looking at them in the sun, sitting around a fire and working on those weapons really got my blood going. Heck, I'll grab any excuse. Luckily Yoshida is next weekend, cause me, I'm itching. I'd even get my owl out of the closet if I hadn't damned good IC reasons not to go. I really feel like the coming year, and the Exodus plans we got made me only happier. It is probably a side-effect of me getting rested, too, and I found myself digging up my larping stuff whistling all the way. Time to dress-up pretty, fetch the blades, load the guns, whip up the potions and raise a little hell...

Aka: "Look, a distraction!"

Basically we had turned it completely around.

After a series of quiet Elysia with several minor bouts of violence we made a battle-Lex. With our own twist, offc.

The story: with trouble brewing in the US, a certain unnamed faction decided they wanted to keep the European Kindred out of the equation. A series of low-input / high-output attacks were launched, and by time-in our Kindred found themselves swiftly picked up from their Haven and thrown into an emergency location where the Prince was already awake, armed with a sword and bowed over a map showing Dorestad in detail. As the night progressed the map was decorated with pins showing the problems and the whiteboard of the location was filled with teams being sent all over the city for information gathering, investigation and righteous ass-kicking. This made it a weekend where information was suddenly flowing comparatively freely, Ghouls ran a lot of the show and everybody more or less interacted on the same level.

As usual I will leave the ingame story of Lex to be told by its participants. One of the biggest compliments were several people who remarked that they were missing the quiet Elysia, leading me to believe that we may have achieved the stable setting that we set out to create.

Just before time-in, however, on the second to last pick-up run from Station Deurne to the location, my car crashed. Matthijs was driving it, with Judith, Wim and John as passengers. They were okay, but I fear Prima is gone: while the dents and the window are fixable, most likely the damage to the engine and undercarriage are not. While I must honestly say I was not a happy camper and I needed a good shove by both Rennie and Cora to get my wheels spinning in the right direction again, in the end it is just a thing. Prima was bought with all the safety measures she had so my friends were safe in here. And they were. I had to swallow deeply when I saw the damage done to her and definatively had to beat a few sinking feelings back in my gut, but Dennis brought Kaylee over on Sunday from Krimpen, and a lot of people offered to get my luggage back to Krimpen as Kaylee does not hold as much as Prima.

Thank you all.

Today, arranging the insurance for the car. Tomorrow, new job. I survived January, and better times lie ahead.

Edit: Car was all-risk ensured. She'll be at the repair company tomorrow and either fully repaired or fully replaced. Until that time I will have replacement transport. Centraal Beheer, thank you.

I will miss it.

Today is my last day, and yesterday was my good-bye party. We ate and lasergamed (typical), which was a great deal of fun. Also got a few book-vouchers (for the ABC!) and a sword and shield set for the Nintendo Wii. The perfect gift.

I am sorry to go. To leave it behind like this. It does not feel... right.

But I have myself to think of mainly, and my partner, my friends, my life.

I wish my collegues the best of luck. Irene, at least, will stay in touch as I have infected her with the WoW virus (Kearakat on the Terenas server) *grin* so I will stay updated. Irene especially has been a wonderful collegue; Jurgen has been one of the best bosses I've ever worked under.

So. That is that. First Lex then a fresh job.

In short: NPC day was fantastic, new CD by Ayreon is bloody great and Lex is looking good, despite the fact that we, once again, put ourselves up for a big challenge. Tomorrow I will depart Nutricia, with my send-off being tonight, and Thursday night last preps will be with Rennie and Cora.

Test, nicked from various people (and a good example of viral marketing).

1. I love information. I love going deep into subjects and obsess about that for a while. These kind of projects keep me very happy. Subjects can vary from the history of naval warfare to political views of the Suffragettes.

2. I undertake regular 'self-improvement' projects, such as cutting down on cursing or unlearning certain nervous ticks.

3. My very first proto-girlfriend dumped me for a another girl. Not great for your ego.

4. Dolls and hospitals seriously creep me out on a fundamental, visceral level. I know it is illogical and I can marginally 'resist', but something, somewhere of me is cowering.

5. Up until I was around 20 most of my family was convinced I was gay. While that was not the case it was rather funny several times, especially in combination with two longhaired good friends of mine who shall remain unnamed... My family was never bothered with me being possibly gay, nor myself, but still... *grin*

6. I loathe 'War Bunnies', aka Chainmail Bikini's. Either wear armour, or don't.

7. I can be curious to the point of recklessness if the mood strikes me.

8. If the theoretical possibility would exist I would love to experience life as a girl for a while. While I am secure in who and what I am right now I think there is a lot to learn and experience. I think once everything was said and done it would make me a better person.

The EE pre-Lex meet was changed from Capelle (Ren & Cora's new place) to Bunnik, and I found myself near Bunnik very early. So I decided to spend some time in Dorestad.

As I drove into Kooten to the busy center of Dorestad I passed the Castellumwijk, glimpsing Arcadia before entering the center proper. Following the N229 around the center I parked near the Old Harbor, briefly talking to Williiam Vanderport as he walked on the Overlaatdijk in the direction of the deepwaterharbor. I walk into the courtyard of the castle, nodding politely to Anton and bowing to Laurentia. I walk the streets, seeing Tom and Nimrod towering over the crowds, if not in length then with sheer physical presence. I see Audrey skulking in the corner of the old mismatched gallery. I see the old house on the corner and just know someone is staring back from behind its empty, broken windows. I see a bridge that was never built and walk through an imaginary industrial park, picturing the rustig hulks of factories, and an immaculately dressed Roland ten Cate getting out of his heavy limo to speak with Marck Quist in the privacy of the abandoned factory. Meanwhile it is just me and the walking. Enjoying the silence. After half an hour, however, it is time to go.

I make my way back to the old harbor, get back in my car and drive on the N229 back to Bunnik, to Karijn's parents where I'll enjoy a good plate of hot food, good company and the EE meet. Back to the world.

Nevertheless I would not want to exist without my hidden youth.

Hit it off quite good with the 'new boss' (who, eerily enough, has the same last name as my old boss), who also lives in Krimpen aan den IJssel. So, the Tuesday after Lex I will be starting at the Vakschool Schoonhoven, the Gold and Silversmith school. Seems a nice place to be: decent comps, own little server... I will be the only guy on site supported by the main Zadkine crew of 15 people, meaning my own on-site office, but good support. Biggest bonus with a nice job is the fact that my traveltime will be 25 minutes by car and in the Summer less then an hour by bike. No traffic jams. Flexible days.

Also, it'll be four days a week.

So... now make it till Lex and I am -hopefully- in clearer water.

(The vakschool is coincidentally on the corner of the street of John and Yasmijn's appartment, within spitting distance basically.)

The past few weeks have been okay, mostly. Lex preps have proceed apace, and things are, as usual, coming together. It is weirding, though, having Lex, moving Ren & Cora, doing the family thing with the holidays, and then more Lex. The Winter Efteling was lovely. We got there with 13 peeps, and eventually became 15 as we ran into Linda and Jeroen; it was fairly busy, but we did all we wanted to do, and I was happy to introduce Glok to the Villa Volta, among other things. It is fast becoming a good tradition with varying groups of friends, and I truly love it. The mood is always quite magical.
The New Year was pretty good, and quiet. One of our New Year's plans was cancelled, and it saw me celebrating the New Year quietly with Annelies and Jo, who had stayed over after the Winter Efteling, crashing in my old room. JW, Inga, Rennie & Cora joined us after midnight, the last two also staying the night / morning. The first day of 2008 saw me going to 'Enchanted' with Jo and Lies, a good start in my opinion. Later that week we had the EE weekend in Enschede, finding us discussing its future plans and thoughts. One thing is for sure, there are a lot of new things out there waiting to be explored, and we're willing to give it a go. Was glad to see the lot again, and continue the tradition of watching bad movies, in this case 'Goth'. Yes, it is bad *evil grin*. Better then 'Vampire Sisters', though.
During the week Lies got ill, though, running a high fever and coughing a lot. She made an appointment at my urging on Monday, and she heard she could see the doc on Wednesday... by Tuesday, however, her fever spiked 39.8 and I was getting _really_ worried. Did not sleep much that week, though after Lies was giving antibiotics the fever started going down slowly. The coughing kept me awake at night, though, half worrying, half trying to snatch sleep. By Friday I was run pretty ragged with 3 to 4 hours of sleep a night. Bless Jo for dropping by on Thursday and giving a hand. Friday we did not go to JW's bday, and except for me going for groceries on Saturday and going to Rennie & Cora's for Lex Meet we did not leave the house.

On the WoW front we had a fun Maraudon-run, and are faced with a dilemma on what to do next as we are coming to the wide End-Game content for the old lvl 60's. What we are going to do exactly I do not know but I'm sure it'll rock. For the first time in a while I had a lot of work as a healer, but thanks to one tactical battle-resurrection from our Druid and a few rezzes from me we managed to avoid wipes. Mark's connection was wonky, though, and after the End Boss his connection kinda... died. Still we continued to kill two optional smaller bosses. Loot was dissapointing though I scored a good robe. My main Galadaeros is proceeding apace, finally seeing some progress after seemingly standing still for a periode while saving up for my Epic Flying Mount. Long hours of questing, copious herb-gathering and 5200 gold later I am the proud owner of a Swift Purple Gryphon, to match my outfit. I've gotten the key to several dungeons and am on the quest to getting attuned to Karazhan, the first real raid I want to do. My equipment is all of rare quality, though I am sneakily looking to score a few epics, mainly the Spellstrike set. I spend most of my time herbing, doing several daily quests, getting a few dungeons and helping out people such as Jo, JW and Lies, who are all working for our Epic Sets. Next weekend we look forward to doing another dungeon, most likely a repeat of the Shadow Labyrinth, for our Kara Attunement and gear drops.

Most of my current free time is running through the next batch of Lex NPC characters. As usual I have a few interesting things I want to include, and a few NPC's we'll be asking to take a few roles that are again fairly tough. Still, with those people I'm not worried; my main concern is making the character both interesting and fun to play, and that always requires a little tweaking beyond 'unknown thug #4' & 'orc #118'. With an NPC dag coming up I have a lot of information flowing around, and I as usual am diving in and swimming around in it... Love the background *grin*.

The week will be okay. Yesterday I had another Lex meet, and tonight will see my father's 52nd birthday. Wednesday will be quiet, as will Thursday, and I will spend that time with several Vamp books and Orpheus doing research. Friday will see the next Lex meet... the weekend is still a bit in flux, depending on Lies' health. All in all, January is tough but could be worse. I will be happy when it is February and have a new project. On that note, I was offered a project in Schoonhoven, on the Gold & Silversmith school there. I will be checking it out on Friday. It will mean a 20 minute trafficjam-less drive by car, a little less then an hour by bike. Also, it'll be four days a week. To be honest, I hope I get it. Wish me luck.