Inigo, the Exiled (and Friends)

One of the things that I started to do with friends is play Dungeons and Dragons (here is a link to a page in the official site that goes in to far more detail than what I can do on my own), at the insistence of one of my closest friends. To be honest, I was very apprehensive at trying the game, as I often struggle with the idea of role-playing and embodying a persona that can be drastically different than who I am in real life.

For instance, my character that I have created for the campaign that I'm a part of is a half-elf/half-human bard named "Inigo, the Exiled". As a traveling musician, Inigo's very much charismatic: social, very playful, lighthearted/easygoing, and at times sassy/sarcastic, in a "charming scoundrel" kinda way. Totally not me, to a great extent. So naturally, I struggle getting into this sort of headspace when it comes to acting conversation, or talking out the actions that he'd take (as opposed to what I'd do in that same situation). I don't know, for me, this is very difficult for me to perform, so I'm quite grateful that my companions are very patient and understanding as I fumble my way through the rules of the game.

Overall, playing as Inigo has been an uncomfortable (but in a good challenging way) exercise in being more outgoing and creative in a way I didn't think I thought I could be. I still need more time to find an appropriate voice for Inigo, as I feel it's just me in a costume, instead of Inigo being his own 3-dimensional character that I'd want him to be. Before now, I've never played D&D before this year, and the closest I've come to playing was with Stranger Things, and even then I didn't know what was going on. Also, I occasionally watch Critical Role to get ideas on what I can do differently for my character, as well as get ides for other characters when the time comes.

Recently, as some of my companions can't be present for every session we hold together, we've been doing these mini-campaigns that let me explore different races, classes, and backgrounds, as a means to change up gameplay without having to compromise our main campaign. I've been trying different voices (a lá voice acting), as well as trying to project different types of personalities and such to add more to variety and color to my gameplay experiences. I still feel awkward and goofy for the time being, but I'm having a good time and I'm amongst good company, so I feel like I'm in a safe enough space where I can be goofball and fail spectacularly from time to time. I think I'm going to love this D&D stuff, even if it's much more grandiose than what I could ever anticipate.

Ad Astra (A Haiku)

 Searching for answers,

      All beyond humanity.

           Are we alone here?

I Can't Believe It's Still Around...

I honestly thought it got lost in the annals of the Internet...or something like that. I don't know. The point is, I can't believe my old man-journal is still around! Alright, full disclosure: I Googled myself (and no, the kids aren't calling that!). In the years since my last post in...2015(?!?!?), I may have or not have opened up accounts recklessly here and there and everywhere. Recently, I've been trying to streamline my online usage, narrowing down which websites I am active in versus those that I have started and neglected (like this one here).

I took some time to re-read some of my past writings. I don't remember why I stopped writing altogether. Maybe life just got in the way, somehow, and I just left this all behind. I dug through the analytics and people are still reading my posts (that's surprising), and apparently, through Facebook, even though I don't use FB anymore (I haven't since 2016 or so). Go figure.

Re-reading the posts that apparently got the most views really took me back a bit. I remember what I was doing in 2014, 2015. I remember where I was and where I wanted to be. Now 5 years later, I don't know if I ever got to where I wanted to be, but I definitely have had new experiences since then. Some I didn't think were possible and some were really unexpected. I was at a crossroads: do I delete this all and start over, or just not try again at all, or do I pick this blog up again, sporadically jot down my thoughts and see where it all takes me? At the very least, it could be a means for me to just take time to reflect on myself. Can't really go wrong there. I do have a hand-written journal, but what I write there is strictly for my eyes, and I don't intend to share that with anyone. So having a more public journal of sorts would be pretty interesting to try to have. So, here's to the first few years, the years in between where nothing was written down, and to the many more along way from now on. 

Cheers - D. Hipster

Dreams

Man, I can't believe I've neglected my blog of ten days. 10 days! 

I'd like to say that I've had some interesting moments in my life these past ten days, but the only thing worth writing about would have to be my reading of Flowers for Algernon and my having a date on a Thursday afternoon. I'll probably have to write about these things soon! And I will, what am I saying? 

Moving on, I've been having dreams where I see people of my past as they are now. What is so interesting about this is that I don't interact with these people of my past. They are in the distance, either part of a crowd or walking by. We see each other seemingly in passing, and we never greet each other.

What's really cool and bizarre is that I always seem a person just before I wake up from my sleep. Their face slips my mind, if only for a second, as I piece together the dream. She was holding a bottle of Fireball whiskey; he watched as I was making a police report; and several were customers in my gas station dream (yes, I too think it's lame that I dream of work). Life and dreams, some of the Universe's greatest mysteries.

Until later, Dorks!

Can't Sleep; Clown'll Eat Me...

Today was rough day. I struggled to fall asleep last night, and didn't do so until 0400 hours on Friday, September 4 (pretty much the day of this posting). Just a month ago, I developed a really bad case of insomnia (after the 2015 Anime Expo), where I couldn't sleep, no matter how hard I tried. I even tried to distract my mind with reading and guitar and Netflix, which worked, but only temporarily. Then I visited my local Gamestop, and I discovered these nifty puzzle sets.

The one above is from The Legend of Zelda: The Windwaker. Despite the colors and variety of the image, it was relatively easy to complete, taking up a mere 5 hours to assemble it all together. I had worked on these types of puzzles as a means to reflect and collect my troubled thoughts on those sleepless nights. The problem was that it wasn't just one thing that bothered and kept me up, it was multiple things: my (seemingly desperate) relationship status; my (lack of) job hunting skills; and even thinking about my mom's imminent surgery. And that's just the beginning of it. The puzzles were therapeutic in allowing me to formulate plans and learn to let go of the things that I don't have control over. 

Obviously, I don't have those restless nights as I did before, but just this night was an outlier in recent events. I should take out the puzzle sets again - they were mighty fun to assemble in those restless nights. Until next time, my Dorkings! (Hmm... better.)

200th Post!!! Have a Drink on Me!

Whoa, 200 man-journal entries... I didn't think I'd write for so long. This all kinda started as a way for me to collect my thoughts and be mindful of my resolutions (which I haven't been doing so lately...), and even think of new (and old) projects to tackle! 

A full bottle of Fireball, before it was all drunk up.

It's hard to believe that it's been over three years since I began this humble blog of my life. I'm quite amazed how much I've grown, what I've had the pleasure (for better and worse) of experiencing, and seeing and reflecting my life here, with you all along the way (in some way, shape, or form).

So, this brings me to the drinks! Since I've moved out, I've been treating myself to new liquors and drinks, with the intention to find new favorites. Don't get me wrong, I'll always have a soft spot for Jägermeister, but I can't always go to it whenever I want a drink - too many people, unfortunately, can't appreciate the drink. So I'm on a quest to find new drinks to enjoy - whiskeys, rums, vodkas, bourbon, scotch, and to much more! So far, I've only bought a bottle of Fireball (a whiskey) and Sailor Jerry (a rum), so I don't have much experience with drinks just yet. Still, I'm having a great time getting to know these drinks with my meals at home. So, a toast: to 200 posts and three years of Life and all it entails (joy, love, disappointment, adventure, heartbreak, and so much more) and to more years of Life to come. 

Until next time, my Dorks (with love, of course - I am the Dorky Hipster after all!)

"The Time Machine is a Microwave."

Lately in my free time, I've been watching anime! First, I watched Cowboy Bebop, followed by Attack on Titan, and now I'm watching Steins;Gate. Soon after, I'll be watching Trigun, Samurai Champloo, and FullMetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.

So Steins;Gate... I've seen the anime before, just a few weeks ago, actually. I was quite confused, in honesty, in the beginning, due to Okarin's mad scientist persona. His one-sided conversations with himself really caught me off-guard in the initial episodes. Furthermore, Christina's death in the first episode, and her "resurrection" in the second episode added more to the confusion.

What first got my attention to this particular anime was knowing that the microwave was a time. Intriguing, no? How the microwave's a time machine is different than I what had envisioned, though. I won't say how (mostly because I don't think I'm articulate enough to explain). The first time around, I watched it in English, just for the sake of it. I was recently encouraged to rewatch the series in Japanese. My friend vouched that the actor who voices Okarin really sells the mad scientist bit. So here I am writing about a show that I'm currently watching. Whew, that was a lot to say.

I do know that Steins;Gate is based on a video game! Although, I do not know how much of the source material is borrowed for the anime. If I could find a copy of the game, I'm sure I'll give it a play through once or twice and see what how it's like.

For now, the anime will suffice. 

Until Wednesday, ya Nerds! (Hmm, sounds cool enough).