When no one reads your blog...

It means that you can just mindlessly ramble about this that and the other thing.
Unfortunately, I fear there will one day be a day where someone may actually read this drivel. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm grasping at phantasmal straws, hoping that there's someone out there that likes meandering monologue. I mean, honestly, they made a movie about the Prairie Home Companion. I love PHC, mind you... but... a movie? Really? A movie?
Anyways, so I'm sitting here at work, wondering what the new year will bring. I'm also wondering if I'll ever get a copy of the Fiendish Codex II. Honestly, there's few things out there that I want right now as much as that book. Okay... except maybe for the Wii and X-Box 360. I am just your typical gaming geek. There's a reason that I'm called the d20 whore.
Speaking of d20, I'm actually attempting to work on get something published. Hopefully, one day, I'll have something in print, and be able to start making some money off this little habit of mine. It would be a great opportunity. I'm thinking of changing some of my ideas, Going from writing stories to more technical writing for game rules and such. It's an idea.
The other ponderance for the new year is to maybe use this site to write a story. Question is... a story about what. Hmm... maybe one of my D&D characters. Maybe about some other random character. Maybe even about the good Shepard that this blog is named after. They're all possibilities. I'll have to think about it over the weekend.

Merry Christmas to all...

... and to all a good night.
Yeah, I know, not the most original intro to a blog, but hey, it's the holidays. It's been crazy lately and I feel very much with the badness that I haven't been able to post in a bit.
I just recently changed jobs, going from customer service at E*trade, to work instead at Verio in their technical support team. I'm a much happier camper all together... now (why do I suddenly want to start singing Beatles songs?).
I'm also now running a three (wo)man adventuring party, as an opportunity to teach some new players the ropes, as well as a chance to get some more game running practice in. It's actually pretty cool. If you've never had a chance to run for nothing but female gamers I... well... it has it's great rewards but it's own special challenges. Being the only guy in the room, there are times I suddenly need to step out of the room, turn on some pro-wrestling, take a deep breath of testorone, and then walk back in. Fortunately, with this group, this happens but rarely. It's a lot of fun, and once again, I get to steal concepts from a hundred and one sources and put them together into a somewhat coherent storyline. I am very excited about where this game can go.
The holidays... ah, the holidays. Christmas is a time to spend it with family, be close to the ones you love, and then remember why it was that you moved out in the first place. I'm kidding. I won't lie to you, getting together with my family, with the amount of neurosis, stresses, insanities, and other dysfunctions can make it as comfortable as a donut in Hawk's refrigerator in the middle of Ramadan (read Applegeeks, darn it! Hehehe...) but, it's family. You know, when we chose our families before we got to this life, I wonder... did we really know they would all end up so neurotic? The great thing about families, though, is that no matter what, you still love them. Despite misunderstanding, jealousies, and other mortal foolishness, in our deepest hearts (maybe the cochels, maybe the sub-cochles, maybe even the colan...) we still love them, and our lives are not complete without them.
This year I think Ang and I did pretty darn good on the gift giving, and got some pretty good gifts in return. My Dad got me an air-popper for popcorn. I'm totally excited about that. I can make popcorn for gaming! (IF I can convince Ang to let me buy popcorn... hmm....) Then we got a very nice blender, which means malted milk shakes, smoothies, and other blended beverages (non-alcholic, of course, but if you want a good Kahlua and Irish Creme recipe... no, wait, that's bad, must be good) for gaming (and other get together). I'm starting to notice a trend... We also got gift certificates, an interesting board game focusing on draconology (very curious), and some other odds and ends. All in all, a good year. I hope my brothers, sister-in-law, Dad, and friends all enjoyed what we got them.
One of these days, I'll have to give a little review of the dragon game that my brother got my wife and I, unfortunately, I haven't even opened it up. (Sadly, I was going to bring in my Mr. Potato Head set to decorate my cubical, but I was expecting that it was going to be a bit busier than it currently is.) For right now, all I can do is reaffirm that Dragon Magic is a darn nice book. That the new issue if Dragon magazine is pretty sweet, and that I am geek beyond words.
Well, depending on how the mood strikes me, I may post yet again later. Depends on how the day goes, the wind blows, and the... umm... moon shows (?).

Dear Buddah, I want a pony...

And to find more time to keep on top of my Blog!
I know, I think I'm only slightly worse keeping up with my journal as opposed to keeping up with my Blog. Hopefully, I'll be better with things since I've just changed jobs.
Where I was once working in the high stress world of finance with E*Trade (A pretty cool company, with a pretty witchy supervisor), I now work in the similarly stressful world of IT. This is where I want to be, though. This is what I'm going to school for. It's funny how the Lord provides windows when you think you see a door shutting.
I've been on my back, side and belly for the last little bit, due to a back injury that flared up something awful. I've been out of the office for two weeks recovering. After going to the doctor, and then the chiropractor, I laid in the living room, playing Jade Empire on the X-Box, wondering what I was going to do to make bills meet. Turns out I didn't need to worry. The phone started ringing off the hook with interview requests all for IT jobs. Now, I work for an IT web hosting company. I am very happy.
Thanksgiving on your back, though, is not easy to handle. Fortunately, I have a good wife.
She's been great during all this. She's really enjoying her new job for Dell, and my hopes to have a notebook (since apparently laptop is a bad word there) sometime in the near future, is a possibility. She's been just as stressed as I have, but she's been pretty good about keeping things together through this time of change (even if she hasn't seen it that way).
So, time for me to let my opinion be known on a few things. Being laid up, barely able to walk, one gets the chance to do a lot of unimportant things to try to forget that one is in exquisite amounts of pain. Among the top of my list of things to do during this time are such things as watch Inuyasha, Full Metal Alchemist, and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig. Ah... the classics. Anyone who knows me knows I'm all about the story, and these three beautiful bits of moving artwork are more than worth the time. Also, on that list is games, more particularly RPGs. This time around I did some X-box gaming with Jade Empire, as I mentioned.
Jade Empire is a decent follow up to the original Knights of the Old Republic. I loved that game. My friend Bob will admit (after a long gaming session) that there's even a part where he cried. Jade Empire is in the same vein. I didn't cry, but it follows great with the Chinese mythological flavor that it sets out to do. Now, that being said, sadly, it is pretty much a remake of KOTOR if you're looking for something earth shattering, you'll be disappointed. I will say, the ability to level your abilities was nice, but it was pretty similar to force powers. Still, a fun game, and I recommend getting it, if you have the chance to sprawl out on your couch for over a week.
The other thing I've had a chance to do during this time is take a look at Cityscape the new "environmental" book for D&D from Wizards of the Coast. I'm a big fan of the environmental books myself. I'm really hoping that they decide to do a jungle themed one. This one, though, has left me feeling a little let down. The previous editions of this series had some difficulties (never ever ever ask Bob about the ship sinking rules in this book), but this one just seems rather unimaginative. Some of the information seems more of a reprinting and expounding from Race of Destiny. Also, the creatures seem somewhat forced. Maybe I've just not had a long enough time to fully digest this tome, and let it settle in my DMing stomach, but what I'm tasting just seems to be McDonald's when I've gotten used to at least Wendy's. Hopefully, Fiendish Codex II doesn't let me down. I've got to figure out some book to put on my Christmas list. Of course, now that I think of it... putting the Fiendish Codex II on my Christmas list may be a little... sac religious.
I've got a lot of things to think about. Bob's running his play test again. Oh, I do so love those. Now, if only our group can work out S.W.A.T. gaming, we may actually manage to survive the next few levels. That, or we just keep up the luck with the accidental major critical hits. I'm also starting a Friday night game, where I'm running for my wife and two mutual friends. Of course, it's a bit odd. It's an all female gaming group. No "Captive Elven Princess of the Temple of the Succubus Demon Whore" for this group, no sir. Hmm... though, I think I should make a "useful" Elan (see Order of the Stick NOW! if you don't know who Elan is) for this group. That could be fun. Hehehehe...
Well, until next time... which should be sooner than last.
Don't go too far into the 'Verse without a backup air supply.

Goblin Churgery! Just in time for Halloween!

Okay, it's not that bad. My wife did under go surgery this last weekend, and after much weeping, wailing, gnashing of teeth, threats, and other misbehavin' I managed to get the time off to sit with her. I don't think I've ever had to pull so many kryat dragon's teeth before in my life. And all just to be with my wife while she got half of her thyroid removed. What's worse is the Doctors were all pretty sure that she had cancer. This is me, thanking the good Lord, (Allah, Buddha, and who ever else may intervene on behalf of the poor and downtrodden) every morning that it turned out to not be cancer.
My beautiful wife now sports the coolest scar on her neck right now, though. All she needs to do is powder up and she can be a zombie for Halloween. That, or I'm pushing for a female version of the Kurgan. Hehehe... considering the fact that I once all but got a degree in ancient history and civilization just to run a Highlander campaign through a 5000 year period, it's pretty darn cool.
Ah, now there was a cool homemade game. I don't know how many of you have ever played the old White Wolf World of Darkness game. I loved the old stuff. There are times I still pine for the old game rules. The new stuff... I'm not too into it. I think the whole "Let's end the world, and restart it, the same, but far more disturbed, twisted, and less fluid" attitude kind of turned me off. I know, I know... the world must be ending, because I got turned off from a role-playing game. Well, it's true. Sad, isn't it? The man who used to play everyday of the week at the White Wolf website (www.white-wolf.com), almost religiously, now no longer plays the game. Maybe it's because it became to hope-less. Maybe it's because it's just not as well crafted for a background as it once was. Maybe it's because there's no more Mokolé. Actually... that last one may be a major reason. You don't play Grant Tyr on the WW's WoD chat RPG rooms for years and years, and don't expect to have some attachment to the little group of were-crocs.
I've looked over the newer rules and I've been tempted to sit down one day and do an updated WoD system Highlander rules. The original rules were great. I've been debating on more than one occasion to sit down and start writing up an update for the rules. I just really don't have the time. I barely have the time to work on this blog, homework, married life, gaming and work. Though, one never knows, maybe someday I'll get off my duff and spend the sleepless hours working on that personal holy grail. Hopefully that will happen before the next Highlander movie (which will either save of kill the franchise). If I ever do, I'll probably announce it here, first (Right after I tell my wife, which means she'll giggle and jump for joy. I'm such a lucky fella.)
So, I've been looking through the Dragon Magic and Complete Mage books. Personally, I think they're must-haves for any DM. Dragon Magic has some really good crunch to it. I'm reading through it right now, going through the materials in there in depth. There are a few things I'm not overly keen on, though. I really don't see the point behind the "dragonblooded" race diversifications. Honestly, I don't think there a need for another sub-group for each of the races. Also, anyone who gets Dragon magazine regularly will notice that more than a few things have just been reprinted. I think that's great. I don't have to go digging through my stacks of back issues to find it anymore. I do wish there was a few more original ideas, though. I love the idea of the dragon pact, and the dragonfire adept. Both very interesting concepts, and many feats, spells, and concepts that I plan on taking advantage of. Even the Prestige Classes (I just see Bob shivering) make sense in this book! Of course, there's going to be dragon specific prestige classes, and the PrCs in this book are very nice, indeed.
Complete Mage, on the other hand, has a ton of new stuff. The Feats made me drool. The Spells and items gave me ideas. The Character options, background ideas, campaign lead ins... all nice and mildly crunchy. The Prestige Classes seemed to fall a little flat for me, though. I don't know, I like the Warlock class... I just wasn't expecting a slew of PrCs meant just for that class. If that was the case, why not just call this book the Complete Warlock? Other than that, I like this book a lot as well. I have plans for this book.
Now... if only I can get my hands on a copy of Expedition to Castle Ravenloft... mwhahahah...
I'm in the planning stages of continuing the young dragon D&D game I run occasionally, but I am finding myself with more and more a hankering for either Serenity, or a d20 Future game. It's an odd state to be in right now. All in all, though, I need to be good, patient, not buy nuffin', and wait for my hunners to get feelin' better. I don't think anyone knows how much I watch her surgery, just to make sure NOTHING out of the ordinary happens. I guess the side effect of having a family member pass because of a "routine" procedure.
Until next time, faith, hope, love, charity, and an ample supply ofammunitionn...

Burn the Land and Boil the Sea

You can't take the sky from me!

A lovely song, isn't it? I love singing the Ballad of Serenity on my way home from work. I find it saturates sometimes. In these times where it's very possible that a crazy little North Korean may very well start World War Three because he's just that attention starved, it's nice to have a little ditty that can lift you past the worries of the world. Now we aren't even sure if he really set off a nuke, and if he didn't just bury a whole bunch of firecrackers in the dirt. Then we have the tragedy of Chris Lidle. I think I was one of a hundred million people out there who's first thought, sadly, was terrorist. The straw of it all, though, is it's not even Halloween yet, and KMart's set up it's Christmas decorations. I've come to two realizations this week.
First: If something doesn't change soon, Earth That Is will become Earth That Was, right quick. I say this not to be a Doomsayer, nor sermonize, preachify and prophisize. I say this more as a matter of fact. It's just a natural consequence of the foolishness the world's leaders continue to follow.
Second: The only thing I can really control is my own life.
I think that's why I'm such a gaming freak. I get a chance to determine the outcome of "kingdoms", "realms", "empires", and "alliances", all in a nice little safe environment. Much like story tellers of old, I weave a tale of mystery, magic, and heroism. At the very least, I hope I do. I also get to play pretty fairly often. The gaming group I'm with is a great group, my favorite group of gamers to be exact. It's the most intelligent group of player I've ever had the chance to game with. Each gaming session is enjoyable. It's also fun just to hang out, without games. Not many groups I know that are like that.
There are many things that one learns through out life. In my case, I learned today that I am really, really, really bad about my little OCD towards gaming when I'm not on my happy brain meds. Hehehehe...
I just finished reading the end of the story for The Battle at the Tomb, for L5R. I'm a little disappointed in some things that seem to of occurred, but happy about other aspects to things. I love Legends of the Five Rings. It's a great game. The ever changing and evolving storyline is one of my favorite environments to read, game, and collect. The writers that they have are great. I will admit, being a Crab-Scorpion-Shadowlands-Crane (In that order.) player (Hey, why did you Rokugani followers all just shiver?) I found the current storyline interesting. I love the idea of noble sacrifice from heroes. Not too keen though that all my favorite characters keep getting whacked (zotched, killed).
My only complaint about L5R right now, is the RPG stuff is a little low right now. I'm not too sure how the new rules covers the old d20 stuff. There were some things that were converted on the website. But then again, there were some things that weren't converted.
Right now, my wife is running a great L5R game. It's fun. I'm currently playing the Scorpion duelist in the group, and a good friend is playing the former Phoenix Clan void shugenja, who is now married to my duelist. She's is doing great.
The Scene: Following the villains, the group is stuck in the midst of a blizzard. The only shugenja in the group hears the complaints of the snow maiden complaining about the rude behaviors of the villains.
The Resolution: Innocently, the shugenja offers the snow maiden some approriate services, and also sells out our Kituski magistrate (who is the most pure in heart) to the snow maid. Now, the poor little Dragon is being followed around by a ice spirit who's interested in having her heart warmed. It is official, she is no longer Phoenix. Mwahahaha....
You have to admit, that's pretty fun. It's great to have situations like that on a regular basis.
Another thing I'd like to mention, as it's Monday now, is Heroes! If you have not watched this show, and you read my Blog, then you are a false geek, and possibly a government agent. Hmm...
Mat's personal opinion... I think I agree with the theory my friend, Bob, suggested, that the stripper is the Hulk-like character. I'm just a little concerned if she changes form. I'm also scared that the alternate mentality seems smarter than the primary.
Well, I think that's all for today. I've actually been working on this post for almost a week. I think the plan is to try to be more up on this in the future.
Check you all later.

Insanity: it's no longer just a disease, it's a lifestyle choice.

These last few weeks have kind of been a whirlwind of stress, stress and more stress. Worldwide: we have men walking into schools, killing students. We have religious groups wanting to protest the funerals of little girls. We have government officials predating on congressional pages, and other officials turning a blind eye. This morning, we now have a little North Korean man jumping up and down screaming, "Look at me! Look at me! I'm dangerous, too!" as his men test a weapon that, in all honesty, no one has a right to make, much less use. It's a crazy world my friends. I think it's all a bunch of stupidity if you ask me. I am of the very serious opinion that far too many people are thinking with far too little of their brains. The running theory is we use about 10% of our brain capacity. I propose that mankind (or at least the ones running things) is running on something closer to 1.25% interest (The .25% is because I'm a generous type fella).
Closer to home, my wife is going into the hospital in about two weeks, for surgery. If that's not stressful enough, my employers have decided that I've missed too much time taking care of her, that if I take time off to be with her, that I'll lose my job. Understandably, neither my wife, nor I, are overly enthused by the deep caring and consideration that my employer has during this trying time. All this admist further craziness that is anyone's life in this 21st century.
Is it any wonder that my wife and I spend so much time playing in our own little world, to forget the real one? I have a few more escapes, I think, than my wife does, though. I'm hooked on a number of online comics, artists, and such, that help keep my mind sane enough to deal with the inane ignorance of the world.
Now, for me, it's all about story, story, story, art, and humor. I hate anything that can't look at itself and chuckle, guffaw, or snicker, at the very least. The big thing, though, as you may of noticed, is story. If I can't care about what happens to the characters, I can't care about the comic, story, game, etc. Here's a few of my favorite little escapes to start you off, if there's any you think I'd like, let me know, I'll check'em out, and let you know what I think.

Inverloch- (www.seraph-inn.com)- A beautiful story with beautiful art, this has got to be one of the artistic creme de la creme, and the story's well done too. I love the characters, the concept, and how it's all evolving. It's a pretty close to living storyline. I love it. There's also enough light heartedness to keep me smiling. The romantic aspect is sweet, and I can't wait for certain characters to hook up. If you read it, you know what I'm talkin' about. If not... well then... read it from th beginning. That's where all good stories have to start, and where most end.

Applegeeks- (www.applegeeks.com)- Speaking of evolution, like the difference between a Powerbook and a IIe, Applegeeks is a comic that has metamorphosed into something truly Gunn toating. What started as a comedic web strip has become an interesting sci-fi storyline, complete with light-heartedness still included. I enjoy every day this comic is updated. Hawke and Ananth are genius. Also, don't forget to scroll down and take a gander at Applegeeks-lite.

Mega-Tokyo- (www.megatokyo.com)- Okay... sometimes there are coolness to the extreme, then there are those cool things that are cool but you don't know if you should admit to the rest of the world that they are cool, or that you think they are cool. Fortunately, Mega-Tokyo isn't one of these kind of things. Sure, it's mostly about Piro's misadventures in love, but come on... there's Boo!!!!! (Yes, Boo from Balder's Gate, he's a substitute conscious... Go for the eyes, Boo! The eyes!!!) This is where I first actually began to understand that oft misunderstood tongue of L33T. (To be honest, I'm surprised no one's made a push to have that taught is class. Honestly, if Ebonics can be taught...) Hmm... rambling again. Anyways, this is a great comic, done in classic black and white. Good characters, good writing, good story, and great art. This is where I got the idea to raise my hand in class during Computer Building 101 and ask, " So... it's best if we just start working on these naked, right?" I think I almost caused my poor lab partner to pass out. I am not a small boy.

Those, mi amigos, are my TOP THREE favorite webcomics in general. There are others that I frequent, but I think I'll mention them another time. This is as good a place to start as any.

Now... in regards to gaming. There are a number of interesting little products out there that get my little mental gears aspinnin'. Right now the top one is Dragon Magic for D&D. Now, I don't own this book just yet, and the best view I've gotten of it has been stolen glances in the gaming store, but from what I've seen, I'm intrigued. There's just not been enough dragon-specific stuff lately. My friend, Bob, would probably weep and wail and gnash his teeth, because of the fact that there's even more prestige classes. On the other hand, I've gone for two VERY GOOD Forgotten Realms sourcebooks without a single prestige class in either. WotC is learning.
If you haven't read Dragons of Faerun, you really should. It's a great update for the Realms. Also, if you're a DM, it's a great source of material for nasty little things to bring into your game. Three dragons are also finally "officially" updated to 3.5, and there's a note to update the dragons mentioned in Monsters of Faerun, written way back in days of (3.0) yore. All in all, a pretty sweet book. At least that's my opinion.
Well, that's how I see things right now. Cats and dogs living together in the streets is just around the corner. I'm just waiting for Vigo to show up in Manhattan, then I'll know the apocalypse is at hand. (That or for the next presiditial canidate to come to his (or her) inauguration atop a pale horse.)

Greetin's and salutations, all.

This is my first post on my first very own little blog. Sad to say, though I've been the one in my marriage to be a year ahead of her in my computer science classes, my wife's the one that drew first Blog. That's just the way things go, I guess.
I'm figuring the best way to start this all of is to introduce myself, let you know what I've got planned for this little 'venture, and give you a beginning look into whether or not this is a place you'll like to visit in the future.
My real name is Mathew Daley. More oft than not, I won't refer to myself in the third person, and I kinda hope the Shepard Gunn nickname sticks. Maybe, one day, years down the line, someone, somewhere, will wonder "Hey, who is this nut case anyway?" and scan all the way back here to take a peek. That or the NSA (or what ever counter-free thought orginization that ends up being spawned in the future) will use this information to track me down, and ship me off to a nice little re-education place somewhere on the outskirts of Butte, Montana. (I've driven through Butte on more than one occasion... you really don't get more Beyond the Black Stump than Butte... heck, even Helena's on a kind of plain... but I digress.)
I'm a bit odd, I think. I've got a kind of off base sort of sense of humor, but I also have a serious side that I try not to flaunt, since everyone else out there is busy flaunting theirs. There's really not enough laughter out there. I'm not saying this is going to be joke central or anything, but I will try to keep the thoughts light hearted, though mingled with poinancy. (I like big words, not because they make me sound smart, I just happen to like the way they sound. We don't use enough big words, either.)
I am happily married to a wonderful wife, who I love dearly. We've been through the ringer more times that I care to recount, and have both managed to walk away each time, stronger and more in love. We had a roommate that just hated it when she would see us yell and scream at each other, and then less than an hour later, be cuddling on the couch, having made up. She swore our marriage would never last. Thing is... the yellin' and the screamin'... that got it out of our systems, then we could talk about what the REAL issue was, and move on.
I'm also a gamer. Oh, am I a gamer. Not computer games, mind you (though I do love my HALO and Star Wars: Battlefront 2), but mostly good, old fashion, table top, spend five dollars at Staples making character sheets for NPCs and characters that will never be played, role playing games. I know that there are some of you that are just screaming "Wahoo!!!! Another geek, just like me!!" and some of you are screaming "Oh, my stars and garters!!! He's a satanist!!!" I am definately not a satanist. Geek, oh, my brothers and sisters, most assuridly.
That being said, I may, should I find the time, offer my opinions on things pertaining to gaming, the community, and the culture. I am what my gaming group calls the local d20 whore. I am Wizards of the Coasts little fan boy at times. Is every D&D product a god-send? No. Are there far too many prestige classes out there? Umm... what day of the week is it, and what game is coming up on Satuday? But can something good be said about most? More than likely. Just don't ask me about that time when WotC got a hold of the Legends of the Five Rings game. There are some wounds that will take time to heal. Of course, L5R, and Serenity... those places hold a wee bit of a special place in my heart (note the Shepard).
I also, though, despite my geekiness, foolishness, and the need for an occasional reality check from my better half, that I can be quite serious, and I do have a valid opinion on more than a few things. Case in point... though I'm a conservative at heart, I can see the good in Clinton's lashing out at the Fox News journalist. I realize, most likely, it was laying the ground work for something in the future for the Democrats, and it was partially political jocking in both of those two seats, but hey, sometimes the media needs to be called what it is. I'm sorry, but there is no... and I mean no... news network, be it Fox, CNN, NBC, or Al-Jazeera that is truely fair and balanced. This is a fact, as far as I am concerned.
I think that's enough for my beginnings. What do you think? I've got tons more to say. We'll just have to see when I have the time to say more.