I'm moving next month and need to shed myself of some of my vast RPG and gaming collection. So over the next few weeks I will be putting up a lot of my stuff on eBay. I'll be selling off most of my d20 system stuff, a lot of my 3.5 edition supplements, all of my Rifts and Palladium books, and much more. Eventually I'll even put up all my Magic the Gathering cards for sale.

My user name on eBay is Jeremy757

You can find my auctions here: http://shop.ebay.com/merchant/jeremy757

Thanks

I feel like I haven't had much use for the internet lately.  I haven't had much of a desire to just sit and surf like I used to.  Other than compulsively checking news sites, which I do more frequently from my blackberry than my computer, I just haven't been on the web a lot.   Outside of spending time with my family and friends my main distractions have been reading and video games.

Reading
I discovered a book series called The Song of Ice and Fire which I have been avidly reading.  I have always heard the posters on RPG.net constantly talking up the series as one of the best in low-magic medieval fantasy.  Then it was announced that HBO was going to be making the first book in the series, A Game of Thrones, into a miniseries.  So I decided that this must be the real thing and picked up the first book.  I was not disappointed.  A Game of Thrones is a tragedy of fools in an epic style.  A story of how one noble house tries to stage a clandestine coup for the throne of the Seven Kingdoms of Westros, the man that tries to stop them, and the civil war that results.  This book defines the phrase "the road to hell is paved with good intentions" as we see several of the central characters compromise their values for some greater reward or greater good.  I have already started on the second book, A Clash of Kings, which is off to a great start.

Video Games
Between reading I have been fixated on the Xbox game Fables 2.  Its a pretty great RPG that has a kind of SIMS element to it.  You can go on quests to defeat the big bad evil and at the same time you can buy business and real estate, conduct trade, find and work jobs, and date and get married and have kids.  I don't quite understand the last part as my current character who has a Purity of almost 100% has been married and divorced twice and in both cases the divorced woman killed herself.   Very weird.

I was also rather addicted to a couple of Facebook games for about two weeks, but now that has worn off.

Birthdays
My birthday is Friday and I have the day off.  I plan on having birthday dinner with the family that night.

On May 23 we celebrated Hailey's 8th birthday.  Many of Hailey's family and friends where there, including Hailey's paternal grandmother Debbie who came all the way down from Ohio with her sister and mother.  We had a great time and nobody got sick on the hamburgers and hot dogs I grilled.  Everyone got Hailey some sort of Littlest Pet Shop toy or some clothes, so I decided to get her a couple of fun little experiment kits that we could do together.  We have only gotten to scratch the surface of them so far, but hope to do more soon.

Job Hunting
I'm looking for a part-time job again.  So far I have applied at 2 Barnes & Nobles, 3 Game Stops, 2 Targets, 2 Krogers and 3 Walmarts.  No luck so far.  Even part time jobs are competitive right now.  The B&N in Las Colinas received around 250 applications for one available part-time position.

Love and Apartment Hunting
Christine and I have been looking at apartments.  My lease is up at beginning of September and we decided to move in together.  We have looked at what seems like about a dozen different places, mostly in Euless, and have found one we really like.  We have applied for it and hope to here some good news soon.  The quandary I have is telling my old fashion mother about this development.  She won't approve of us "living in sin", but ultimately she doesn't really have a say so in it.  I hate to hurt her feelings but we have to do what we think is best for us and if we don't move in together now it would be over a year before we would have the chance to again.

I did the whole christian, wait till your married to have sex and move in together thing the first time and that didn't work out well at all.   This time as I consider the future with the woman I love I am trying to be more practical about it, but still preserve some of the romance and idealism.  I love Christine very much and hope to propose to her and marry her in the very near future.  I'm very excited.

Plants
The plant my grandmother gave me about 5 years ago isn't doing so well.  We thought the problem might be that it needed to be repotted but since repotting the plant it has started to look worse.  But in anticipation of its impending death C & I went out and got several more plants.   I like plants.

A webisode series on adultswim.  This is G.I. Joe the way it should be told.  Written by the great comic book writer Warren Ellis.  The series, which is a total of 60 minutes long, reminds me of the 80s Larry Hama comic.

Go Here to see all 11 webisodes:

G.I. Joe: Resolute

I have added a gallery of pictures of mine and Christine's road trip to Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York City.

Road Trip 2009 Pics


We drove over night from Dallas to Ohio where Hailey's grandmother, Debbie, lives.  We stopped on the way to visit one of Christine's old friends and have lunch.  The entire drive to Ohio took about 20 hours including the stops.

We spent Saturday night at Debbie's house.  She was a really nice woman and I enjoyed visiting with her.   The next morning Christine and I left for Pennsylvania, leaving Hailey with Debbie.  Our first stop was Sharon where the Daffin Candy factory is.  We looked around and bought some really good candy and then were back on the road.  We drove to Harrisburg by way of Pittsburgh and the Penn State Turnpike.  It was a beautiful drive and Pennsylvania is a very scenic country.   We had dinner at a really good restaurant called the Elephant and Castle in Harrisburg and then retired for the night.

The next day we drove out to Gettysburg and took the tour of the museum there and say the 360 degree painting of the battlefield that they have at the top of the visitors center.  The only part of the battlefield we were able to see was Cemetery Ridge before we had to move on.  While having lunch in the town we ran into this very ill woman who was on her way to the Hospital for her cancer treatment, but was also diabetic and needed to get something to eat soon.  She didn't have any money so Christine gave her some money to buy lunch with.

After Gettysburg we rushed to Hershey hoping to get there before everything closed but we didn't make it in time. So we decided to come back on Sunday on our way back to Ohio.  We drove on to New Jersey where we stayed for the night.

Tuesday morning we drove into Philadelphia and saw the sites there.  We went to Independence Hall and the State building next to it where the first Congress was held.  We toured the cemetery that Benjamen Franklin was buried and saw the Liberty Bell.   After having lunch at a little Philly Steak shop nearby Christine got hit on by a homeless man who followed us for several blocks yelling at the top of his lungs "Baby your so fine!  Come back here and give me a kiss."

We left Philly and made our way to Newark where we had reservations at a nice Holiday Inn there.  We stopped at Washington's Crossing and drove threw Trenton on our way.

The Holiday in was great and we got a good deal on it.  The room was really nice and the food was good.

Wednesday we went and saw Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.  The Ellis Island museum was extensive and very informative.  The self guided audio tour was top notch.  Plus the place wasn't particularly crowded, not like when we got to the Statue of Liberty.  Liberty Island was packed full of people and we had to stand in a security check line for 45 minutes before being able to go into the pedestal.   You can't actually go into the statue but you can climb to the observation deck of the pedestal, which we did, and boy was it a climb.  I can't imagine climbing the rest of the way to the top of the statue.

We then drove into Manhattan to met Mike who now lives in New York.  We went on a water taxi tour of the harbor and got to see the Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge, Battery Park, the WTC site and the Statue of Liberty again.   After the water taxi ride we walked around Wall Street and had dinner at an Irish pub were we sat and visit for a while before calling it a day.

Thursday we spent most of the day in and around Times Square.  We spent a couple of hours in the Toys R Us, had lunch at the Olive Garden in Times Square which has a really great view of Broadway.  We walked over to Rockefeller Center, but didn't go up to the observation level after being told there was only a 15 block visibility.  We went down 5th avenue to check out the Museum of Sex, which was surprisingly informative, especially their animal exhibit.   We ended the evening in Times Square again where we shopped for souvenirs and had dinner at a hot dog stand.

Friday on our way back to Ohio we swung through Hershey again to see Hershey Chocolate World.  We took the tour of their factory mock up (you can't actually tour the real factory) attended a taste testing class and saw a fancy 3D movie show and spent about an hour looking through there big giant store and bought some more chocolate.   We spent the night at Debbie's again and then after a birthday party for Hailey's great grandmother we left back for Dallas.

We drove through the night and arrived at my parents house the next morning and dropped off their souvenirs.   Then it was back to my place where I took a long deserved nap.

I'm officially back from my Great American Road Trip.  I'm also very tired.  I hope to post an entry and some photos in the next few days.

My new (to me) Xbox 360
A couple of months ago Greg's Xbox went on the fritz.  He called to find out about getting it repaired and discovered it was one month out of warranty and they would charge him $100 to repair it or send him a refurbished one.  Instead he decided to buy a new Arcade version and just put his hard drive into that, so he now had an Xbox that was under warranty again.

He then made me an offer: I could have his old Xbox if I just paid the repair fee.  With my DVD player all but broke and useless, I happily did this and he sent the box in and a couple of weeks later a refurbished one was sent back.  In the mean time I went onto Amazon and found a used 20 GB hard drive for $40.  So i got a slightly used Xbox for the low price of $140.

Greg also loaned me Mass Effect.  A sci-fi role-playing game with a very cool story that I have become totally addicted to.  I'm currently on my second play through.


   


VALENTINES DAY
I think I had one of the best Valentines Days ever.    Christine, Hailey and I spent the entire weekend together.  Christine spent most of Saturday cooking us a huge meal while I sat and played my new Xbox all morning.  A chicken, a salad with spinach and strawberries, some roll thingy that was really good and lots of other yummy food.   Then for desert we had chocolate fondue, with an assortment of fruits, marshmallows, and pound cake.  I bought her a card and some really nice flowers and she got me tickets to see the King Tut exhibit at the DMA.  I felt a little outclassed, but when we went to the exhibit on Sunday we had a really great time.  We spent a good two to three hours looking at all the artifacts.  It was pretty amazing to see such large objects made from pure gold.

ROAD TRIP!!
Yea!  Tomorrow after work Christine, Hailey and I, leave on our Great American Road Trip.  Its spring break next week so we are taking Hailey to see her grand mother in Ohio.   Once we drop her off, we will be heading east into Pennsylvania towards Philly.  We hope to make stops in Hershey and possibly Gettysburg before spending a night and a day in Philadelphia to see Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell Center.  

Then it is on to New York City where we will be spending three nights and two days.  We plan to see the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and the sites of lower Manhattan and mid-town Manhattan.  Best of all we will be meeting Mikey D for a harbor cruise and dinner on Wednesday evening.  I'm so excited, I'm really looking forward to it.

I've never done a lot of traveling in my life and this will be the first time I've never gone East.  This is a big moment for me.

It's opening night for Watchmen.  I'm so excited.  I'll be seeing it tonight with Christine thanks to my parents expert babysitting skills.

Here is Roger Ebert's review of Watchmen:  "It's so good I'm going to see it twice"

Well I have a lot of catching up to do. So this is a big entry to my woefully neglected journal.  December was a good month and Thanksgiving and Christmas were wonderful and everything I hoped they would be.

Thanksgiving
    I had to work the day after Thanksgiving so I was unable to accompany my parents up to Arkansas to see my grandmother.  Instead I stayed here in Irving and Christine and Hailey spent Thanksgiving day with me.  Christine's mom had to work on Thursday so we put off having a traditional Thanksgiving dinner till Saturday when she was available.  So instead of turkey and stuffing I fixed us a barbecue beef brisket and Christine fixed mashed potatoes and several other side dishes.   I had never made a brisket before, so I got my dad to tell me how to do it.  If i had realized how easy it was I would have done it long before this.  It turned out great.
    Saturday we went to Mindy's (Christine's sister) house where we had a more traditional Thanksgiving meal.   It was a full house: Christine, Hailey, Martha (Christine's mom), Mindy, Scott (Mindy's husband), Scott's Mom, and myself all sat down to a nice dinner.  Before hand I had been asked what kind of dessert I liked.  Out of all my choices it was determined that only my love of Key Lime Pie seemed appropriate for a Thanksgiving day dinner, though none of them were familiar with the dessert and seemed hesitant.  So it was served as one of the desserts at dinner and by the end of the evening I had won them over to my love of Key Lime Pie.  Since then it keeps popping up as a dessert choice at our get togethers, I get the feeling Mindy really likes the stuff.

Christine's Birthday
    My sweetie's birthday was on the 22nd and she made a big deal out of telling me not to make a big deal out of her birthday.  Frankly I'm pretty sure it was reverse psychology.  It pretty much got turned into an entire weekend thing.  Friday the two of us went to Genghis Grill at North East Mall and had dinner then went and saw the movie Seven Pounds at the Rave next door.  It was a really good movie though we spent the first 15 minutes scratching our heads trying to figure out what it was about.  The movie starts essentially in the middle of the story and you have to piece together what Will Smith's character is doing through a series of flashbacks.
    Saturday the three of us got dressed up and went to Sundance Square.  I really like the Christmas atmosphere of Sundance in December it really gets me in the mood for the holidays.  I was craving some barbecue so we had dinner at Risky's. The food was particularly good this night and I ended up getting a free side dish.  After dinner we took Hailey to see the Tale of Desperaux at the Palace theater.  Although it got off to a slow start it was a good family movie.  Before going home for the evening we stopped in the Barnes and Noble next to the Palace and did some last minute Christmas shopping.
    Monday, on Christine's actually birthday, we took Hailey to the Incredible Pizza Company.  I had been wanting to check this place out for a while and Christine wanted to do something fun so she thought it would be a cool place to spend the evening.  The place is very similar to Gatty Town in Frisco, a pizza, pasta and salad buffet and arcade.  The food is comparable to Ci Ci's pizza if not a little bit better, but with a larger selection of items.  The arcade I was disappointed in, nothing compared to Dave & Busters, and though we didn't get a chance to try the bowling lanes or go carts we did play some mini-golf, but that was a little underwhelming.
    Before Christine's birthday I was told repeatedly that the only thing she wanted was a birthday card.  I took her at her word and figured everything beyond that was a bonus.  I got her a card and a book of poetry, took her to dinner twice and to a movie.  I also gave her another book, one I owned and had already read and enjoyed.  It was just a little something extra to give her and defiantly not her actual birthday present.   Yet, it created such a controversy that I became the talk of all her friends and family as they shook there heads and made jokes about what a disappointing gift giver i was. 
    The book I gave her was Shelly Mazzanoble's Confessions of a Part Time Sorceress, a great book that explains what role-playing and D&D are.  Now Christine is no gamer, nor does she have desire to be one, but she had inquired more than once about what it was me and my friends do on Saturday afternoons.   I have always been at a loss to explain "the hobby" to people who had no knowledge of it, its always something that I have thought you just had to experience to get it, but I thought this book does a good job of explaining what role-playing is.  Plus talking about gaming with non-gamers has always been difficult, I guess it's a bad habit left over from the 80's and 90's where talking about "the hobby" in the Bible Belt often had particular negative social repercussions.  Well the intent of the gift was lost on everyone and since then I have had to endure some good natured sarcasm and jokes about dressing up as characters from Lord of the Rings.  FYI, tabletop role-players don't dress up to play their games, that's Cosplayers, a whole other kind of hobby.

Christmas
    I was on vacation from Dec. 24 to Jan. 2.  I managed to get most of my gifts bought a couple of weeks before hand, doing 75% of my shopping on Amazon, but I spent Christmas Eve afternoon in the mall buying a couple of last minute gifts to round out Christine's and Greg's selection of gifts.
    Christmas Eve, Christine and Hailey met me at my parents place and we went and joined my parents at their church for a candle light service.  My mom, who had been the one to invite Christine to the service, was surprised when the girls showed up having, due to old age I'm sure, forgotten ever inviting them.  That night I stayed the night at my parents place so we could open gifts first thing the next morning.
    On Christmas morning we got up and heated up this "breakfast loaf" that Christine made for my family.  It was like a breakfast burrito, but in a loaf of bread.  It was very good.  We also heated up the cinnamon rolls that my neighbor Wendy the Pastry Chef made us.  They were really good too.
    After breakfast we sat down and the four of us (Mom, Dad, Greg and me) exchanged gifts.  I got some game books from Greg and Mom and Dad got me BSG season three and Chuck season one and an wireless Internet router.  I got dad a couple of movies and i got mom a watch and some chocolate and Christine and I got her a scented candle set.  I gave Greg a Crown Royal bag with some new dice and a iTunes gift card in it and the Step Brothers dvd.
    Christine and Hailey showed up about 3pm.  They had spent the morning with their family and exchanged gifts.  Hailey got a Nintendo DS from Santa Clause and has had her head buried in it ever since.  Once they got there we exchanged gifts again.  I got Hailey the first and second seasons of Foster's Home for Imaginary Children and a necklace of a butterfly.  I got Christine a neck massager and this personalized angel/snow globe/music box thing.   My parents got the girls some girly froo-froo stuff that I don't remember.  The big surprise of the day was that Christine bought me a new printer, an all in one HP that prints, copies, and scans.
    The girls spent the night at my parents house with me and the next day we took a road trip with my parents to go see my grandmother and my mothers side of the family.  With the exception of Greg, who had to work and couldn't come, I think this is the first time in a long time that everyone was there, including the new great grandchild, Mary's daughter Maia.  We hung out and visited, had a Christmas gift exchange, played several games, and made a trip to Wal-mart.    It was a typical trip to Arkansas.  Everyone seemed to love Christine and Hailey and my grandmother still hates my goatee.  I also got a chance to borrow some stuff from my great grandmother's hope chest to help me with my genealogy research (more on that later).

New Years
    No sooner were we back from Arkansas than it was New Years Eve.  Christine's long time friend and business partner, Andrea, was having a party that night.  New Years Eve is her birthday.  We dropped Hailey off at a place in Southlake called Adventure Kids.  Its a pay by the hour daycare thats open till late at night, and this night it was open till 2am.  They had there own little New Years Eve celebration.  Hailey seemed to enjoy it quite a bit.
    We got to the party and there was plenty of food, snacks and adult beverages to go around.  I was designated driver so I only had a couple of Zimas.  Andrea hired a guy to sing and MC karaoke which was pretty cool, but most of the people were too shy to get up and sing.  The party was pretty fun even though several of Andreas lame friends left with less than an hour before midnight.  Christine had more than her fair share of booze and was very flirtatious winning us the "Hey Get a Room!!" award for the evening.

The Future
I can't say that I have been happier than I am now in many many years.  Christine has filled a void in my life and I am so very much in Love.  Next up in our exciting courtship is a road trip to the Northeast in March.   We hope to hit Harrisburg/Hershey, Philadelphia, Trenton, and NYC in a seven day period.    It's going to be a great trip and we will be driving in her new SUV, riding in style.