On Getting Back On Several Horses In One Day

Hey guys, gals, and everything in between - today is a much better day than yesterday was, for many, many, oh so many reasons. First (and foremost - well, not really but I just love saying that) is the fact that today is Thursday. This means, obviously, that tomorrow is Friday - the day that we (now) play Squiggles superhero game, allowing me to stretch my Locki muscles. And, to add wonder to awesomeness, the following day is Saturday, which means that (this weekend) I get to teach Kylie how to make sushi and (to my weekly delight) play Spud's 'Rise of the Runelords' game. Oh yeah, and we're going to make a real push on working on my costumes for SupaNova, too. So - a productive weekend it shall be (filled with sushi, no less - so all you non-sushi eating people can...you know...either suck it, or make your own sushi.)

Earlier today, as you may be aware, I had my combined performance review and end-of-probationary discussion. You may also be aware that I was quite nervous about this, and that, the closer half-past eleven became, the more my little tummy was going somersaults in an attempt to escape my body so that it didn't have to be present. All of this stressing was (as I was told by my team leader, my aunt LeakySpider, and a nice person from the CSU forums) for naught, and I was praised outright. Apparently I have "exceeded both my job description, and their expectations of me." It's a good thing.

Today was also CSU's Club Day - a fact which slipped my mind until it was almost too late. I am, presently, the founder of BAMS - the Bathurst Anime & Manga Society. I know, the acronym should be BAAMS but that makes us sound like sheep, which is something we are trying to get away from. So, at around 12:50 today I whipped out my notebook and drew up some very simple posters, as well as a "sign ups" sheet so that I can get in contact with the willing members when I find out exactly when and where we can host our meetings. When I rocked up the place was already full, and there were basically no spots left, so I sat myself down next to my friends from The LAN (a Bathurst gaming event) and tried to encourage people to rock up.

Emma Is Never Happy When I Take Her Photo For Some Reason

Squiggles,  However, Is Always Too Happy...

This, I will admit, started off fairly rockily. I put my own name on the paper, and I got X-Man and Elmo to sign up as well - you know, to get the ball rolling. Otherwise, I just sat there. Alone. With the guy who wanted people to play video games with him. It was kind of like what I imagine high school must have been like for various people (I was going to say that it was like high school, but it has been pointed out that I was actually popular, and thus cannot draw that comparison.) After a while, we got sick of being "those losers who aren't doing a sport club" (nobody's words but my own, and said in jest) and decided to put some advertising on X-Man, sending him off to walk around, as though he were some kind of mascot. This worked okay, but the thing that really got people coming to us was - in X-Man's eyes, at least - his dancing skills. You can see, below, a minute of him dancing (I re-dubbed the music 'cos the sound was crap on the original.)

YouTube Is Being A Tool About Showing Me My Videos, So I Hope This Works

All in all, we got about 20 members before I had to go back to work, and that's not including the couple of non university people I know will want to come, as well as any people who sign up after I leave. After I sort out the whole "Can we get affiliation, please" issue, and hopefully get our funds in, things will just snowball along - I am sure of it! I have some pretty nifty plans for the club, including (but not limited to) film/series screenings, subsidised trips to conventions, manga/comic sharing, and more. If you live in Bathurst and are interested in that sort of thing, then please feel free to email me so that I can add you to our mailing list!

The final awesome and wonderful thing that just makes today so wonderfully spectacular is that I saw someone wearing an awesome hat. Alas, however, I did not get to take a photo, as my phone was mucking up (upon checking my phone at home, it turns out that the photo did take!) And no, I do not refer to the fact that I caught Spud in the Gaming Lab wearing a paper bag on his head as though 't'were the finest of head gear. I am referring to the gentlemanly SPG who caught my bus again this morning. I thought it might interest you to know that, as I disembarked, I yelled (slightly too loudly perhaps) his name and he turned around and seemed genuinely pleased to see me. Well, okay, he didn't seem displeased to see me - and in my books that means that he was pleased.

In The Catholic Religion, He'd Be Pretty Important (So Sayeth The Height Of His Hat!)

So yes, I spoke to SPG today. I asked him if he enjoyed D&D, and told him that my friends and I were wondering if he'd like to play. He responded with the (actually totally unprepared for) "I've never played before, however I have watched a session and it seemed pretty fun." So I invited him to play in one of our sessions. Apparently this would be "pretty cool", but will have to wait until the uni holidays because otherwise he is too busy. So now I have to decide whether I want to run a one-shot, or have him play in a pre-established game. Either way I need to determine what kind of game to get him into - maybe a steampunk era game is in order - to help him settle  in. Oh yeah, and he gave me his number, but that's just so I can contact him in April (during the holidays) to let him know the details of our games.

Oh yeah - there were a couple of other things that I want to just super quickly mention. I didn't have any nightmares last night (which is rare for me, at the moment.) The blisters on my hand were punctured somehow (totally accidentally) yesterday and have now had the pressure inside relieved - as long as I can stave off infection I'll be fine. I met a bunch of nice people at club day, many of whom were quite talkative, and I got to make fun of X-Man on the Internet. It reminds of the days when I used to have a radio show, and I would make fun of him through broadcast sound. Good times.

The moral of today's story is that it feels good to act like yourself, especially when you spend 95% of the time acting like yourself (assuming you don't count time spent role playing.) That 5% of the time when you're a seething mass of un-you-ness is made just so much more unpleasant by the fact that it's so uncharacteristic for you to become this totally different, and (to be honest) much less awesome person. But then, I guess, you can only act like someone who isn't you 50% of the time before that paltry personality becomes primary, and suddenly being awesome is weird.