Matt-Man does Florida

Hail and well met

Man I have to say that I have had one amazing time. My gratitude is overwhelmed by the generosity of my friends. I owe them big time.

Florida was amazing. Busch Gardens was fun, lots of animals to look at whilst they slept the day away (Hyenas look funny when they sleep).

Orlando was unbelievable. I want to go again. Like soon. Of course money is a prohibitive factor but I still want to go back. The park is just amazing. I was so entertained whilst my two buds hit all the coasters. I even did the Mummy ride, which whilst a "Flat" ride was crazy. We went up and down and into turns and curves and WE WERE INSIDE A BUILDING. I have to say that I felt ok after and that gives me hope that I will once again be able to ride the rides. I am still overwhelmed by the magnitude of the parks.

All in all it was far more fun then I thought.

I WANT TO GO BACK!

Ok got that out of my system. I will be coming home Monday and I should be in town by 6 or 7. I will see everyone at the first possible convenience. I have to buy Hordes!!!

Oh man I need to find a woman...WHAT?

I am out out here cause it is weird.

May the Force be with you

Excelsior!!!

Matt-Man alive and well in Atlanta

Hail and well met.

Just a shout to say that I am doing AMAZING down here. Having a great time(although I miss all of you). Seen a couple of movies and eaten at some interesting places.

Got my friend moved in and his house is great.

Leaving for Florida tomorrow and coming back on either Friday or Saturday. Plan on being back in the area either Monday or Tuesday.

Yeah kinda taking it easy and playing it by ear.

Hope all is well with all of you.

Mikey cannot wait to hear how the interview went. Hoping it went well.

Well that is all the time I really have right now. See all soon.

OH yeah I got Hordes waiting for me.....

AWESOME!!!!!!!!!

May the Force be with you

Excelsior!!!

Matt-Man: A minus 11hours!!!

Waoh wait a minute...I only have 11 hours before I leave?



AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Ok well that now that I have that out of the way I can inform you all of the important things...Which I seem to mostly have covered in previoius posts...So that means that I have nothing much to say that really matters.

In other words nothing new.

Ha that was fun. In actual fact I have some news. My car is fixed. I am picking it up soon. So I am set to get to Iron Kingdoms.

I also have to thank my P's. First off my Father who has come to my aid, yet again. A situation that I am getting sick of on a deep level. Next my Mother who has seen fit to do something that makes this trip easier.

OH and I have to post this picture! It is amazing! And I get them! LOOK SEE.....


Well it is a small picture but a bigger one is at the privateer site. Anyway I have a load of things to do so I will bid you all adieu.

I will be posting from Atlanta next time I type.

May the Force be with all of you

Excelsior!!!

Matt-Man: A minus 2 days

Okay well things have gone to shit...

My unemployment has run out. I was certain that I had one more check to go but apparently not. My car is in the shop. My back still hurts, at least it is getting better.

And you know what?



I don't care one bit!

Oh hell yeah I was so ready to jump in the pit of despair, but then I realized that there was not one damn thing I could do about any of it so worrying would do nothing.

So I am going to go ahead and leave tomorrow as planned. I am going to go to Atlanta and hopefully Florida. I am going to have a damn good time. Why? Cause if I didn't go it would not change one damn thing. So if this is going the way of a Greek Tragedy then I am going out with a smile. I mean I could stay home and brood about this situation, but again it would not get me anywhere that is better then I will be after going and having a kick ass time with my friends. In fact it could be said that I will be in a better place by going. So there it is. Yeah it sucks and it puts me in a tight situation, but I knew it was coming just not this soon.

Ok well I have a bit of trivial but good news. I finished reading a book that I have had for...Yeah too long. I, Jedi was finished earlier today. So Nicky you can have it back when you get back. It was a kick ass book and I thank you for letting me read it. Oh I have to say that I would love to see a book in which Mara and Mirax got together. It would be the end of the universe as we know it but it would be a kick ass ride. OH wait that did not come out right! I meant...Of forget it you sickos. The important people will get what I mean. So if you don't get the reference then....



READ A BOOK!



Ha I haven't gotten to put that one up in a while. Feels soooo good.

I hope that everyone is doing well, cause if you are not then why haven't I heard about it? Well don't start now cause I am gone in two days...Just kidding, my door is always open to a friend.


May the Force be with you

Excelsior!!!

Matt-Man: A minus 3 days

Hail and well met.

Let me get this out of the way now. I am in serious pain. Back pain that is. Not sure what brought it on but it has kept me down most of today.

But can stop Matt-Man? I don't think so.

No what can stop Matt-Man is his breaks going to shit. Yup with only three days until I roll out for Atlanta my breaks decide it is a good time to start making with the grinding and jerking. I had hoped that any car repairs would do me the favor of waiting for my to have work, but the best laid plans of mice and Matt-Man so often go astray. So tomorrow I am hoping to get my car in and have it looked at. If not tomorrow then Friday. Either way I am side-lined until it is fixed.

Which means that here I sit in my tabernacle of empirical failure. Oh what fun it is. No I am not going to start downing myself, it is just that this place holds nothing for me except memories of what I didn't do, haven't done and what never can be. It is a place with nothing but echoes of my past and wraiths of my present. Every moment I am forced to be here only cements in my heart an soul the fact that I have to get out or become something not worth talking about.

So for anyone that might have pondered my incessant trips to Lansing or other places, there is the reason.

I have tried to come to terms with this place, if only to survive situations like this one. In truth if I ever did come to terms with being here I would never be able to leave. I am a creature of comfort and as long as I am comfortable with something I don't change it. Rocking the boat and all that just is not my thing. So I endure my stay here only in the fact that I am unable to leave.

So with the pain I am feeling and the stress of having to yet again go to my father to bail me out of a situation I am frayed beyond words.

Bah it is not something I should be dumping on anyone but this is my soapbox.

Well onto something less depressing, in some ways. For the last several weeks I have been visiting a local thrift store. My major reason for going is to check out the selection of used books that they have. In total I have acquired close to 18 books of various topics. Now all I have to do is start reading them. Of course there are the books that others have leant me that still sit unfinished or un-started. I remember when I would devour books in hours instead of months. Many a happy moment can I remember reading a book outside at the cabin my Grandparents have.

Well I expect to have my test results by the time I get back. Well to be honest I am hoping they will be here, cause it will only have been 4 weeks of the 4 to 6 I was told at the test. Given that I was supposed to hear from them about said test in 30 days and it took six months I am just a little worried. No that is not true, I am FINE with it.

Of course FINE stands for...

Freaked out,
Insecure,
Neurotic and
Emotional

I will survive.

Not much more to say here. Pain killers are starting to kick in so I had better stop typing.

Just 3 more days and I am off on an adventure. I cannot wait.

May the Force be with you

Excelsior!!!

Matt-Man: A minus 4 days

Hail and well met.

In four days I am off to Atlanta for a week to ten days. I am so psyched for this trip. My buddy Bill and I are leaving Friday night around midnight. So yes everyone that reads this there will be Iron Kingdoms that night, just not the following Friday night as I won't be back. Which is amazing since I get to have one of the greatest role-playing experiences and then spend an 11 hour road trip with one of friends on the way to seeing one of my other friends. It just doesn't get any better then this...Or does it?

Yeah I was informed that there is a side jaunt in the works. It appears that my friend James is not content with hanging around his new house for that week, so he and Bill have discussed a trip...TO FLORIDA! Oh hell yeah! Not only will I be spending time with people that I haven't for the longest time, but we will be visiting a state that I have never been in before. I am so geeked over this trip I cannot put it into words.

I have never seen the sea. I bet its beautiful.

Kudos to anyone that gets that line. Oh man I get to swim in the sea! Awesome is just not a word that covers it right now.

Ok well still waiting for the test results, but that is no big surprise. I have been working hard on a story for the Star Wars game over the summer. Trying to keep it simple and short so we can cover it all in the time allowed. I am suspending Iron Kingdoms for the summer so Friday nights are free for it or anything else we decide to do. Other then Star wars I am still thinking of running a special short game that I have been working on, it still needs some work but if I can get it ready I will run it.

I really am looking forward to running Star Wars. It should be interesting. I am positive that it won't end up like last time. I am keeping things closer to my plan and not making things so rigid that you, the players, can't do what you want. The story may be important but you guys make the story.

Ok well I have to get stuff done off-line so I will type at everyone later.

May the Force be with you

Excelsior!!!

Matt-Man for Warmachine!

Hail and well met

I saw this on the web and although it is on Privateer's web site I just had to put it here to show all.



Yup one cool miniature. I will own one. And it is for Hordes no less.

Ok well trying to keep busy until the test arrives. Otherwise I will go STARK RAVING MAD! So glad that in a week I am off to Atlanta. Really looking forward to the time away.

Also hoping beyond hope to pull hitting Carbondale and Econ before I go. Not a lot of chance of that right now, but who knows.

Well that is all for now.

May the Force be with you

Excelsior!!!

Matt-Man Forever!

Hail and well met.

Well it has been a short time since I posted. The major reason is there is not much to say. Things are what they are. I am still waiting for the results of my test to arrive and the more I talk to people the more I feel that I did a good job. I am really hoping that I get a good score.

Well there is one thing on the horizon that has me pumped. I am going to see my best friend in the world. The other half of the baddest team up in the history of team ups, The Running Buddies. Also the founding member of the infamous Zoo Crew. Who is this marvel among humankind? His name is James Salmond.

He has been a friend for longer then I care to remember. From way back in high school. I have seen little of him since his move to Atlanta many moons ago. I have visited only twice and he has come up when work allowed. Well now he has a house, dubbed "Mt.Olympus" and Bill (another friend of mine) and I are heading down there around the 22nd of April for a week to 10 days to help him clean up his apartment and move in. It is going to be a blast.

Also I should report that Iron Kingdoms is going well...Ok it is going great. The story is moving along and things are progressing well. I am using the Witchfire Trilogy as a skeleton for the events but as always adding my own special flavor.

Which brings up an interesting thing that I have been thinking about. As most of you have read here or lived, I once upon a time ran Star Wars. Well after closely considering the possible consequences of my actions I have decided to once again don the mantle of GL (George Lucas) and will be running it over the summer. Now for anyone reading this that is going to jump out of their seats there are a few points that I should make perfectly clear.

1) This is set in the time from the end of Episode 3 and Episode 4.
2) There will be no FORCE USERS!
3) It is not going to be the usual fare of one of my games. No galactic threats from beyond. A much simpler and saner game will it be.
4) I am changing things up a bit with character creation. I am merging D20 modern with the Star Wars system (both are D20 so they work together) to allow the creation of characters that I feel will better serve the players.

So there you have it. Yes I know I will get some light grief over the no force users but it is just one less thing for me to have to deal with and opens up some avenues of conflict that otherwise would be at best mundane.

Wow for not having much to say I have filled up quite a page. That about covers it right now. I will have more to say soon.

Again hope that everyone is in good health and spirits. If not then why haven't you called or emailed? You know that I am always willing to listen.

That's a wrap people!

May the Force be with you

Excelsior!!!

Matt-Man tipping the vessel of hilarity

Hail again and well met

Yeah I know I just posted a long one but then I found this on a friends blog and as I don't know if you all read it I decided to repost it here. These made me laugh out loud as I hope they do for you.




Attending a wedding for the first time, a little girl whispered to her mother, “Why is the bride dressed in white?” “Because white is the color of happiness, and today is the happiest day of her life.” The child thought about this for a moment, then said, “So why is the groom wearing black?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

A little girl, dressed in her Sunday best, was running as fast as she could, trying not to be late for Bible class. As she ran she prayed, “Dear Lord, please don’t let me be late! Dear Lord, please don’t let me be late!” While she was running and praying, she tripped on a curb and fell, getting her clothes dirty and tearing her dress. She got up, brushed herself off, and started running again! in. As she ran she once again began to pray, “Dear Lord, please don’t let me be late…But please don’t shove me either!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Three boys are in the school yard bragging about their fathers. The first boy says, “My Dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, he calls it a poem, they give him $50.”

The second boy says, “That’s nothing. My Dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, he calls it a song, they give him $100.”

The third boy says, “I got you both beat. My Dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, he calls it a sermon, and it takes eight people to
collect all the money!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

An elderly! woman died last month. Having never married, she requested no male pallbearers. In her handwritten instructions for her memorial service, she wrote, “They wouldn’t take me out while I was alive, I don’t want them to take me out when I’m dead.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

A police recruit was asked during the exam, “What would you do if you had to arrest your own mother?” He answered “Call for backup.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

A Sunday School teacher asked her class why Joseph and Mary took Jesus with them to Jerusalem. A small child replied: “They couldn’t get a babysitter.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

A Sunday school teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with her five and six year olds. After explaining the commandment to “honor thy father and thy mother,” she asked “Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?” Without missing a beat one little boy answered, “Thou shall not kill.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

At Sunday School they were teaching how God created everything, including human beings. Little Johnny seemed especially intent when they told him how Eve was created out of one of Adam’s ribs. Later in the week his mother noticed him lying down as though he were ill, and she said, “Johnny, what is the matter?” Little Johnny responded, “I have pain in my side. I think I’m going to have a wife.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two boys were walking home from Sunday school after hearing a strong preaching on the devil. One said to the other, “What do you think about all this Satan stuff?”

The other boy replied, “Well, you know how Santa Claus turned out. It’s probably just your Dad.

~~~~FIN~~~
Okay well there it is. Type at you all later.

May the Fo...Oh heck already said it once no need to beat a dead horse.

Later

"If two is less then one then write...HEY why are you moving your pencil?!

Hail and well met!

I have survived taking the TEST. It was an interesting exercise in watching human behavior.

First of all I almost didn't make it thanks to traffic. Took me over an hour and a half to get from my house to the convention center, almost double what Mapquest said. Now don't think that I take Mapquest at its word when it give me a time, cause I don't. I left an hour and a half early figuring that if it said 45 minutes it would be closer to an hour. But I made it and that is what counts.

Finding parking was another story. There was not one single free parking area around there. Damn convention centers. Luckily I discovered a $2.00 all day parking garage across the street. It was not marked anywhere but on the entrance off a side street, sneaky bastards! But Matt-Man ferreted it out.

Now the packet said that it started at 1:00 and that anyone showing up late would not be allowed in. I ran across the street to the convention center at 12:58 by my watch (which is + or- 5 minutes to anyone else's watch) and was sweating it. Then I see the line. Yeah should have figured that the post office would be on government time, not real time.

We filed in and it got started somewhere around 1:30.

There were close to if not over 100 people there for the test. We were ushered into a large ball room with round tables in it and seated 5 to a table.

Now for anyone who can picture that it should be obvious that secrecy and privacy was impossible. If someone wanted to look at you sheet it was just a glance away. Hell I even caught myself looking to see how many questions my fellow test takers had finished on any given sections, just to compare my volume against theirs. Of course the number of answers is only important if they are correct and that is something I won't find out for 4 to 6 weeks.

All in all I feel real good about the test. I cannot go into detail about it as we were informed that it is a matter of secrecy and to do so would be illegal. Personally I don't want the Post Office Secret Police beating down my door for revealing state secrets.

I will say this. I have to wonder what our so called education system is doing. One section of the test is based on your ability to follow directions. You listen and follow the verbal directions of the test supervisor. Not to tread on that fine line of secrecy versus freedom of speech but this one is in the packet that they allowed out of the building and closely mirrors something that happened in the test.

The supervisor tells us this "If two is less then one then mark..." So you get the idea. If TWO is LESS then ONE you will write something somewhere. Obviously since TWO is NOT LESS then ONE you should ignore anything you are told to do. As I sat there I caught a glimpse of A LOT of people moving or already marking on their sheet.

WHAT!? How in Gods name could you not know a simple thing like two is not less then one?

I am not a scholar nor a college graduate but I sure can say that I know that TWO is GREATER then ONE. And from the age and conversations I over heard some of the people that were scribbling had college educations! I almost laughed and cried at the same time.

On a totally personal and selfish note I said with a slight grin "Good for you keep it up". Yeah I can be a bastard at times.

Well anyway the fun did not stop there. After we finished the test the supervisor and assistants had to collect and count the test booklets and answer sheets, for security reasons. As they were doing this several people got up and left. Now having been the product of public schooling I know that you do not get up and leave a room like this without being given permission first. Sure enough the supervisor got on and told them to sit back down until they were released. This of course was not good enough and several people went to stand by the door. Not a good idea. Again the supervisor told them that nobody was leaving until they had planted their butts back in their seats. You could see the outrage on some of their faces. Personally I just smiled and chuckled as did several of those at my table.

To make a long story short we left and that was that.

All in all I feel good about it, I know that most of the questions I answered were correct. I mean there was one part that really stumped me at first but I used the ole' knoggin and figured out a way to beat the system.

The test was Scan-tron, the best and most technologically advanced way to take a test...IN the 70's! My high school was still using this in the 80's and that is 20 years ago. Now I know that it is a rather efficient way to give a test in terms of "low-tech". All you need is a scantron sheet and a number 2 pencil. Then you shoot it through the machine and wa la you have a scored test. It just seems that in this day and age they would have something more "leading edge" or at least something from the 90's. Ah well I digress.

The section that gave me the willies was memorization. I have a mind like a bucket made of Swiss cheese, well at least short term. I have some good retention long term but still not top of the class...Ok I would be the D student in the class but not for lack of effort so I would get the pity C. There were numbers and names in boxes and you had to be able to put those boxes down as you saw the names and numbers in a list. I was almost ready to throw up and pass out to avoid this part when it came to me.

Now knowing that from their instructions that they did not expect us to answer all the questions on any part of the test I knew that unanswered questions did not count against your score. With this in mind and the fact that wrong answers counted against you I knew that if I could answer only a few questions with a 100% rate of correct answers I would be ahead of someone who answered more with a lower percentage.

So I set to memorizing the names, since I knew that the numbers were right out. When the moment for the test to begin that section I just answered those questions concerning the names. I am absolutely sure that I was 99 if not 100% correct on all of them. WOOT!

Okay that is enough for now. I have stuff that I have to do and people to see.

Hope to see some of you soon, and anyone else I hope to talk or type at you instead.

May the Force be with you

Excelsior!!!

Matt-Man is put to the Test

Hail and well met!

Well I will be leaving in just a scant few minutes to go and take the TEST.

I am sorry to have not posted but to say I am nervous is...Well understatement is to casual a word.

I am fine; which stands for...

Freaked out
Insecure
Neurotic and
Emotional

A little homage to "The Italian Job" which I watched recently.

I will be pressed for time today so I won't be able to post until either very late or tomorrow. Thanks in advance for all the support I will receive from all of you on this endeavor.

Hope all is well on your fronts. Health and all is well and so on.

Yeesh I am having trouble typing. OH cannot forget my No. 2 pencils.

May the Force be with you (and me heh)

Excelsior!!!

For the love of God and your own health ...Stop the Damned Hammering!

Hail and well met

Yeesh people! Can a man take a couple of days...OK weeks, to straighten out his head? I mean things tend to go funny every now and then around here and this was no exception.

In the end I have to say that I rode it out with a better handle on the situation (Yeah I am waiting for the other shoe to drop on that one). I have come to the realization that I am a movie line philosopher.

My latest glints of cosmic glamour come from one new movie and one old movie.

Age before beauty...(first time I have not had to hit some one over that line)

City Slickers (1991)

Jack Palance as Curly Washburn says "Do you know what the secret
of life is? One thing. Just one thing. You stick to that, and
everything else don't mean s***."

Yup the big pain in the ass is finding out what that one damn thing is. Still looking. Hope to be finding it soon, before I go stark raving stupid.

The second of my movie revelations is from a newer film and most everyone should know of it. I just put it here cause until this situation I had never really sat down forced myself to answer the question.

Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow says "The only rules that really matter are
these: what a man can do and what a man can't do."

Have had a load of fun *sarcasm dripping* with that little endeavor. But I am better for it, or so I would like to think.

The situation is...Well to say resolved is not quite right, to say it is unresolved is not quite right. All in all it is done and what I can't do is change what happened, either what I did or otherwise. As well I can't change anyone else, not within my power. I may want people to have changed but that is only what I can wish for.

What I can do is to accept what happened and move on. I can accept who people really are and move on. I can trust people to be true to their natures and with that in mind move on.

Unlike the turtle that drowned in the river cause he forgot the nature of the scorpion, I am never going to expect anyone to be anything but what they are. Of course figuring out who they are is the real conundrum.

Well that is all I have time for. I have noticed some interesting comments on my blogs of late. It is funny that people have decided to stop on by and read me. I kind of like it.

Oh Chris that Latin dude is my friend Joe from Southern. Yeah he doesn't blog and knows that I will know who it is by the info in his comment.

Emmy thanks for stopping by. Hope you find what you were looking for. I always dream big (only if real life would live up to them).

Ok well that is about all that there is for today. I have my test on Wednesday, and Monday I will have an update about something that started Friday, but will not bear fruit until Monday.

OH yeah seeing Slither tomorrow. Should be good and "B-movie"-lishious!

May the Force be with you

Excelsior!!!