Monday, February 21, 2011

Natural Twenties

So I've delved into the world of Dungeons & Dragons and I'm already very superstitious about my Dice.
I know, I know. "Explain".

So since I've moved here, I've made some friend at the local Comic Bookstore in Lindenhurst Village. It started when I went a couple weeks back on a Friday, magic night.
I picked up Magic the Gathering in one night and Jay taught me the basics, gave me a slew of cards. I also bought a start deck to get some lands (Plains). So I'm working out my white deck, which I'm aiming for pro-black/rebel.
I'm pretty proud of myself, I'm a fast learner. I've collected a slew of cards that people have just thrown at me and this previous friday I won a few games in the tournament. I think.... Hank kept track of all that.
My first friday I also played a guy named John. John recruited me for D&D on Sunday afternoons. So that Sunday I showed up to create my character for the new campaign. He gave me some dice as well, but they were cursed. I rolled Amanda's instead, they were elven. She's an elf ranger, I'm a half-elf druid. More on that later.
Anyway, the campaign started on that day and the second sunday was yesterday. Essentially we started with a group of six (including John who's the Dungeon Master) and one bailed yesterday, but a ninth grader joined the game. She'll likely take the roll of a sorcerer or arcana type. I dunno. Anyway, the group consisted currently of....
Jay (that guy from magic who named me as his apprentice. He's creating a monster), who is the Dwarf by the name of Geroin. His roll is strategic command. He is the son of Brahn, fully armored and a force to be messed with. He's the tank and a powerful one at that. He took the very blow of a giant golem.
His wife Amanda is an elven ranger named Ellarinda. Raised by humans, but lived among the elves with a druid master Adorali. She rained hell upon the enemies with her archery. Imagine if you will, when we were in a war, a cloud of arrows casting a shadow upon our enemy, as Jay so quaintly described it.
Then there is me, the half-elf druid reformed, I'm allowed to pray at bushes and worship fraser adies. My name is Alfons. I'm a selfish type who cares only about what and who matter to him. My friend Ellarinda brought to me this contract. I also rain hell with my natural magic. Background note, I was trained by Adorali.
Katrina, our ninth grader, was there yesterday using one of Sean's canned characters. A sorcerer. She hasn't established a character yet, but she seemed good. Also she's good luck. I had her blow on my dice I got a great hand.
Sean is... well, I'm not sure what exactly he is. He's human and he's strong and magical as well...... Funny in person.
Talon doesn't matter.
Anyway, John createda fun campaign where the members of our party (Sean, Talon, Geroin, Ella, Katrina) were all asked by some Lord to be his army for hire. Ella, knowing Alfons, brought me to it as well.

Anyway, I also got some great comic books yesterday in a grab bag for a few quarters from like the nineties. Love this stuff. Also got a set of matching dice from Amanda. They are green and sparkly. I also went ahead got an extra matching D10 (ten sided die). I call them elven dice. I also got a wood looking D20 and a pair of wood looking gold D10s which I'm referring to as my druid dice.
Don't worry, I'm not obsessed. I'm just filling you in since this blog post is called Natural Twenties.

In other news, I finally got a beautiful square bookshelf with three large cubbies for different sections. I got all my Manga out and packed it it and I filled a sci-fi novel section, fantasy novel section, old journals, school books mixed in with manuals and my manga on the top shelves. I also got to unpack my old Shonen Jump collection from when it was good. Back in 2004-2006. That was what got me hooked on Manga and it's been packed in boxes for two years, untouched.So I stuck it on top of the unit is filing containers. Looks good, even has my american comic books in with them. I'll stick a picture in here. somewhere.
Anyway, I'm excited about getting them and read them again.
So today is monday which means slow day. I'm just kicking back, reading, talk to friends and listening to music.
I've been in an indie mood again recently. Listening to a lot of Brie Stoner, David Vandervelde and The War On Drugs.
I recently discovered The War On Drugs while hanging out of the Secretly Canadian website, because I was checking out Vandervelde's newest single, "Checkin' Out My Baby" which is really different from his almost bluegrass influenced psychedelic 60s sound. The and EP still sounds great! Just more rock than before. And the other some from "Summer Time Hits" (the EP) called "Learn How to Hang" is very much his style. Very nice.
Anyway, War On Drugs is very good. Kind of reminded me of really really old folk country from it's origins in some songs, which was a nice contrast to there very indie sound which is mellow but kind of uplifting. I got the album Future Weather which includes some unique instrumental and some great mellow work. Surreal would be how describe it. Check them out.
I also found out about a great indie music station on the radio. It's the third radio HD channel on 90.7 WFUV in the city. it's called The Alternate Side and it play all sorts of eclectic and indie music across the New York area and beyond. Though I can't pick it up on the radio, they stream the broadcast online so I have the stream in my radio playlist on iTunes so I listen to that a lot. It's all music and so far no commercials... I think. I also like to listen to the AM station 1100 when in the car. Lot's of older music from like the Sinatra era. It's awesome.

Well, thank you for reading and sorry for the longer post than normal.

May God bless and peace be with you,
Brent Matthew Lillard
@SAKUTOnoSai

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Retarded? No, I am not impeded.

So, if you read my blog onsite then you may have noticed a couple cosmetic changes like the new banner and the new name. I figured the "Middle American Blogger" was inaccurate since I moved to New York's Long Island where "on line" means the same thing as in "in line" at the store and the the K and S in ask is reversed.
Seeing as I digg Unix and Linux I figured the command "whoami" seemed appropriate to the content and the fact that the URL is my name.

So tonight I have dealt with a Troll on Dailybooth by the pseudonym of "YOUR3STUPID" who has been spreading hate speech around D.B. like a bad cough and I've been gathering as many as I can to squash this troll.
I find that the best way to deal with a troll is no argue with them, but be polite and passive and use bigger words and stronger logic than they can understand. Which I did, I also reported their comments after they referred to one of my followers with the C-word.
Possibly the most vulgar word in the english language, at least here in a America.

So, I've been here for well over a couple weeks and I've formed a basic routine that involves this blogging. I've been repairing and modding my stuff at an accelerated rate, keeping up with Dailybooth.com, doing some great writing for my novel, trying to maintain communication with the other residents in this house and I'm going to exploring the local villages soon.

Still looking for work, no calls yet. It's a bit disappointing since I moved here for the work, but the economy sucks and it doesn't help that our country's currency is dropping like the proverbial ton of bricks. So, I'm living off my Aunt still because I have exactly $500 dollars to my name.

We're also trying to use my diagnosed autism to get some money for college. Which is something I haven't talked about before, I don't think. You see, I am diagnosed as both A.D.H.D. and autistic. The term I remember hearing from days of seeing a shrink was "Asberger syndrome", which really fits the bill.
Mind you, thirteen years ago I was taking medications for A.D.H.D., the meds from hell. When I was thirteen I cast the meds away and put a lot of effort into being less hyperactive and more capable of concentrating on things that didn't grain with me for extended amounts of time.
TO my success I've never taken and refuse to take any form of M.D.H. or psych meds again.
Ritalin is a living hell. I hated it for seven years. For some, it's derivatives might work, but I was miserable.
I'm a fully functional and socially functional American who has the label "Autistic" which means I can probably meet a special needs quota at a job or get a ton of money for college.
You might say I'm taking advantage of the system, but I'm dead broke and living with a couple who support three dependents plus me. I deserve the money more than some people who purposely cheat the system.

On a side note, I think I've done very well for myself so far. I am a product of a teenaged pregnancy who was raised by her parents and homeschooled from K to 12. I'm Austistic with a hyperactive disorder, I decided in early adolescence that the meds were worse than the disorders and worked to counter act myself by my own free will. I'm extremely creative, I am very intelligent. I studied and got my G.E.D. on my own. I can repair almost anything if I stop to think first. I have been told that I am wise beyond my years. Every person who I've been romantically involved with I have remained on good terms with after feelings had changed. I have the finest best friends I young man could ask for. I paid in cash, with my own money for my first cars. I come from a good, but not perfect, family.

On a final note, the dictionary definition of Retard is for the verb,
1: to slow up especially by preventing or hindering advance or accomplishment : impede
I bring this up because I have always hated the vulgarity of the term in modern slang. Not because of my own disorders, because I have never considered myself retarded or mentally challenge in my life. I have hated it because it a butchering of our language for the sake of vulgarly labeling people who most of the time can't even tell that they are being put down or made fun of.
As someone who was once bullied, it angers me.

Thanks for reading,
Brent Matthew Lillard