Have You Got It In You?

Good evening my friend. I've been spending the day playing board games. Earlier my brother and his wife were here and we played a game of Robinson Crusoe. This was excellent and fun - I loved it! After they left I opened up Pandemic (which I bought for myself) and played a game. I narrowly won but had discovered after the game that I had sort of cheated. Oh well, haha. I played it a bit more like how you play another game by Matt Leacock called Forbidden Island.

After that I pulled out Betrayal at House on the Hill. Oh man, was this a fun thematic game. I started the game with a high school football player and two kids going into this creepy house alone. I had set it up in my mind that it was some horrible babysitting gig and that the football player had gotten lost - or maybe he had loured these poor kids here to play a sinister prank on them, maybe worse? Only time would tell.

You see, in Betrayal at House on the Hill play begins as a cooperative game so all of the players work together. Near the middle of the game something called The Haunt happens and one of the other players betrays the others and the game usually ends in someone's horrific death. It's a great representation of B horror movies.

At any rate, in the beginning my unsuspecting characters explored this mysterious mansion, uncovering rooms and gaining items. A lot of terrible things happened before The Haunt even started. The house shook, the wind howled, and my characters were starting to lose their sanity and physical powers. Then about midway through the game, my football playing creep of an investigator found a creepy book that gave instructions on how to summon a demon lord.

He made his way swiftly through the house using an enchanted elevator to the chapel where he summoned the demon lord. He should have been wary, though, because the demon lord immediately slayed him and started to hunt down the poor children. Peter, the boy, was nearby and took the enchanted elevator across the house to where the girl was exploring. They rallied together and found some weapons, then took the elevator around the house, running from the demon lord until they could sneak in the chapel where the evil book lay.

The girl (whose name I can't remember) grabbed the book and ran back to the elevator before the demon lord could get back to it. In a hurry, the two children took the elevator throughout the house until they managed to find the furnace room, where they threw the book into the flames, silencing away the demon forever.

I was absolutely shocked that the children ended up getting out alive. As soon as the football player turned traitor, his stats maxed out practically, making him remarkably stronger than either. The demon lord was also incredibly strong, though not as fast as the two children.

After that I played a quick game of Elder Sign with the Unseen Forces expansion. I played in anticipation of the Gates of Arkham expansion coming out in the next few months. Who's excited? This guy.

I wanted to play a game of Arkham Horror with the new King in Yellow expansion that I got for Christmas, but it's getting late and I don't know if that would be a good idea.... but I could at least set it up.

I hope you have a great night, my friend. I'm off to game some more!

Thank You For Finding Me, and Thank You For the Care

Hey there, friend.

Well, National Novel Writing Month is over with now and I can get on with other parts of my life. I did relatively well, finishing two thirds of the goal in the alotted time.

Aside from that, life goes on. Work goes well. I haven't been sleeping all that well, but that's a whole seperate blog topic.

I've really been liking what I've been seeing from the new Into the Woods movie. It's been one of my favorite broadway shows for many years now, and I'm thrilled about the attention that it's getting. I had been worried several months ago, as details started to emerge about it. Certain scenes that I am rather fond of in the musical were deemed too inappropriate for a Disney movie. I can understand that, I just wish it wasn't necessary. If it's done the way it often is on stage, children probably wouldn't get that it's inappropriate in the first place.

Who knows, though? I don't make movies, I just comment on them.

In other news, I still haven't gotten my Christmas decorations up. It's very unusual for me, usually I start to go crazy around the first of November, packing away my Halloween things and getting my Christmas decorations out. I'll have to get on that as Christmas is creeping closer. I think I have most of my presents picked out, but I haven't bought very many of them.

Well, friend, I think I'm going to sign off here. Have a great night and stay warm until I talk with you again.

I Should Probably Say Why I'm Running

Well hello there, it's been a moment.

Life has been good here, very busy with National Novel Writing Month, work, and juggling various other social obligations.

My novel is coming along well, and I'm hoping to spend most of my days today and tomorrow catching up and getting ahead. I'm about four thousand words behind today which is easily doable. If you want to check out my NaNoWriMo progress, feel free to check out my profile. It almost feels like cheating to be writing something other than my novel, so I'll keep this as a short update!

Much love, my friend. I hope you're well.

Knock Knock, Are You Alone?

Good evening, friend. Life continues to be busy. I''ve been taking solace in the quiet moments between this and that. Between here and there. NaNoWriMo preperations are under way for me, and I'm attempting to narrow down basic character information so I don't have to worry about it when I'm writing away.

I've noticed that people recently seem to show a certain amount of disinterest which is weirding me out. I went to a drag show on Saturday night and all of the queens and kings performing seemed so disconnected from what they were doing. High energy, but you could see in their eyes that they were somewhere else entirely. I go to the grocery store and the clerk ringing me up won't even make eye contact. I don't know if the moon is in an odd phase or what's happening. Maybe I'm the one that's disconnected and am only noticing in other people what I'm unable to see in myself.

At any rate, I've been planning out a little halloween get together for me and a couple of my friends. I'm hoping that it will be fun. Some snacks, maybe some board games, and a lot of laughs. On the note of snacks, I've learned that I cannot keep lemon stuffed or any Oreos on hand at my house. It doesn't matter if I like the taste of them anymore, they're just so crunchy and delightful that I can't stop eating. Next thing I know, the box is gone. Apparently I need to work on my portion control.

Thanks for listening to my very random ramblings. I hope you have a wonderful time until I see you again.

I Put a Spell on You

Good evening my friend. I'm just listening to Annie Lennox's most recent album (just out!) and I'm loving it so far. I hope you understand that I'll be talking a lot about music in my blog. For goodness sakes, it's called Just Elevator Music, haha. I like to think of it as just that extra voice playing as you go from this thing to that. In turn, expressing those voices and influences that play in the background of my life.

I really like this concept, and I've been thinking about adapting it into a podast. Just a personal journal of my life. Then again, I probably wouldn't blog as often... so there is that. I guess it's just a matter of finding out what's best for me. However, until that becomes aparent, I'll just keep doing what I'm doing.

The fall colors here in Michigan are absolutely beautiful. I think they're just past their peak, and the leaves are really coming down now. There's something about the weather in fall I can't do without. The wind blows barely icily, the clouds start to roll lazily by and cover the sky, and the sun starts to get less intense. Taking walks through it all remains a guilty pleasure of mine. I love to sit beside a river or stream and take it all in. I watch the birds fly south, and all of the other animals begin to take refuge.

I've really enjoyed reading through my collection of HP Lovecraft. I'm a big fan of the board games Arkham Horror, Elder Sign, and Eldritch Horror which feature heavy influences from his works. This time of year is excellent for some good horror reading. In particular, I just finished The Statement of Randolph Carter the other night. Really well done, great build of suspense, excellent ending. Short but sweet.

And now, my friend, it is time for me to go to bed. I hope you have a wonderful night and day tomorrow.

The Coffee's Never Strong Enough

Good evening, my dear friend. As you can see, I'm up very late again. All day it seems to me that something's pulling at me from the outside. A force penatrating my spirit, leaving me uneasy. Laying in bed I realized the need to create and communicate to help ward off this sensation. I get like this every now and again: unsure and emotional. Sometimes I joke that it's my "man period."

I don't ever really know what brings it one, but I have my guesses. Big changes in friendships and work are to come, as well as several side projects. As you know, I've decided to take place in National Novel Writing Month in November. It approaches faster than I think I'm ready for. Such a huge undertaking, and I can't even figure out the name of the main character. I'll figure out, haha. I think that's part of the beauty of NaNoWriMo: you have to just do. Making the best novel isn't the point. The point is to finish one in 30 days. That means that all involved have to write over 2,000 words every day. In that time, there is no chance to second guess.

This will be very good for me, I think. Not being able to obsess and perfect something; just to finish it. I'm already building playlists, thinking of overarching themes and settings, an trying to get as prepared as possible for it. I think that's one reason I've been talking so much about music to you. Trying to get my descriptive muscles moving. I really wish I could type as fast as my brain can think! Just imagine all the work I could get done.

I doubt that the novel I write will ever be available for publication, but I really think that it would give me the self confidence to be able to get the other ideas I want to share with the world out into publication. It's a step. And that's one thing I've really been working on in my personal life: taking that first step. Many times for me, that's the hardest part. Of course, that then leads to the next hardest part: the follow through. Workout routines have never really worked out for me because I lack the effort to follow through. Then again, I really hate physical exercise. You get my idea, though.

I really think that's life, though. You take a step, and it's the most difficult thing you've had to do. Then, you take the next step, and it's just as hard - if not more so. Most people give up when they reach that second barrior in something new. Maybe the third or fourth. Somehow, though, I have got to know that it's worth it. It's worthwhile to overcome and move on to new and unseen territory.

That's sort of why I'm excited for NaNoWriMo. It's something I've always wanted to do, it's something to overcome. It's a way to rid myself of all of this unwanted creative dark matter. It just swirls inside me, a biproduct of the human existance. I have to find new ways to let it out in productive and beautiful ways. If I don't, it bottles up and tends to force itsself out in ugly and... unfortunate ways.

At any rate, I've been very excited to pen an idea that I've been working for the past few weeks. When I decided to take on a novel, I had to decide if I wanted to choose from a list of ideas I'd already thought about, or if I would do something new. I chose the latter, for the thrill of it. Well, mostly that if it was very terrible, it wouldn't be an idea that I held dear to me and I might be able to just chuck it out the window!

The concept that I'm running with now is heavily inspired by the works of HP Lovecraft, though I doubt that we'll see any of his universe show up. Just general ideas, themes, and vague images that give me inspiration. I was reading one of his stories before bed and this idea really jumped at me. To paraphrase, any hack can draw a scary image for the cover of a magazine. Only a true artist can make a creation that causes a stirring in us, that speaks to the unconcious portion of the brain. That's because the artist has had direct contact with the reality of what they're conveying through their chosen medium.

Those words really got me thinking. I have to portray this story in a realistic way, a way that sounds more like memory than imagination. I think if I come at the novel with that approach, I'll already have a much more quality piece of work. I think my general concept is that the novel will be a tome, written by a high priest of an ancient god that has invaded the modern world. The story will be almost a history that the god has instructed the priest to set to paper as a testiment to its greatness. How the twenty-first century found itsself crippled in a matter of days to a force it couldn't comprehend.

It's a bit rough, I'll admit. But it's something to work with, and I'm grateful for it. With those thoughts, it's probably time for me to turn in. Goodnight, my dear friend.

Wait it Out

Hello friend. Just made my morning coffee. Want some? 

It all starts with some tasty espresso:

Add some steamed milk and a pleasing crosshatch:

Voila! Delicious espresso creation! 

That was a hazelnut white mocha with regular mocha as a garnish on top. I love my deliciouss morning coffees, but I usually don't have time to make a latte like this. I love days off! 

It's been a busy week of work , I apologize for leaving you hanging for a bit. I always come up with great things to write about at work. Then days pass and I'm left here staring at a blank page where there should be text... ah well. 

I'm still crazily obsessed with Imogen Heap. Wait it Out plays as I write this. I love how Imogen starts her songs with a simple musical thought and slowly expands it throughout the song until it crescendos beautifully near the end. It's powerful and moving to me. In this song in particular I love the lyrics "everybody says time heals everything. But what of the wretched hollow, the endless in between... are we just going to wait it out?" So powerful to me. 

It's aching hurt that we all carry from one thing or another. A bad breakup, the words spoken to you that you'll never forget. We'll get over them sometime, but until then... what do we do in 'the one life that we've got?' Do we try to overcome these emotions and feelings, or do we just... wait it out until things get better? 

Something to talk about over coffee, I suppose. Until then, I'm off to roast some more coffee!