The Dragon of Doom! Book 1

My daughter wrote this story and I wanted to share it with everyone:

"Once upon a time there was a dragon that ruled the world. The dragon was evil. To defeat the evil dragon, the prince came up with a plan. The prince to the pixie his plan. The pixie told squirrel the squirrel told the frog. The frog told the bunny. The pixie turned the prince into a knight. The end."

Now, let me do a short review of her work:

First, great start. I was excited. We have an evil dragon that is ruling the world. What kind of atrocities is the evil dragon perpetrating against the denizens of his, or her kingdom (Queendom?). Great, strong antagonist. Enter the brave prince. I am not sure how there is a prince when the world is ruled by a dragon, but suspend disbelief for a bit. So the prince comes up with this plan to take out the dragon overlord, but he knows that he can't do it on his own so he enlist the pixies to aid him. Then for some reason, the pixies start telling everyone the plan. Intrigue? is the pixie in league with the dragon? We don't know, but the plan gets around. Then the pixie turns the prince gets turned into a knight. PLOT TWIST!!! And that is where we are left, on that crazy cliffhanger. I can't wait until the next book in the series comes out. This story is loaded with deep characters that you really connect with. A tour-de-force that leaves you wanting more.

Overall, I give the book a 3.7 out of 5 stars.

If you are looking to get your hands on a copy of this riveting novella, you'll have to wait; publishing is still pending.

Day 3

Even though the post says it is day three, which it is, it is only the second day I ran. I weighed in today at 212, which mean I lost some weight, but I don't think it is the healthy type. I don't know.

Anyway, I must have pushed myself a little too hard because I was still sore when I went to run. What this meant for me was that I only ran for 20 minutes, and I ran less intensely, walking more of the time. Well it is short today. Don't worry about commenting Olivia, I know you are reading this.

9 Weeks to Chic

Two weeks ago my wife ran a 5k, the first serious running she has done in quite some time. We talked about the run after she finished and I expressed some interest in running with her. I'll be honest, the main reason that I wanted to run with her is because I wanted something we both could do out side the house. Malea thought that this would be a great idea and sent me a 9 week program that is supposed to take you from couch potato to 5k jogger. If anyone is interested here is the link: http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml.

I decided that I would start the program today. To make myself honest, I have decided to blog about my experience. This way I can keep honest about the progress and we all can see if a free internet program can do what it claims. I am going to tell you everything that is going on in this program.

To begin, I started at 216 pounds. That's right I am telling you everything. The complete run /walk was 2.8 miles and it took me 25 minutes to complete it. Now this is the first running I have done in over 10 years so I feel pretty good about that.

So how do I feel? Well I feel tired. Runners often talk about that natural high they feel, and to be honest, I didn't feel it until I was done. Of course I think that had more to do with the fact that oxygen had returned to my brain and my legs were no longer crying out.

Well, look forward to my post on Wednesday when I try day two of the program.

New Template

So I am not a fan of the new lay out, but it needed to be changed and I am too lazy to put in any real effort.

The Summer of 9

This summer two movies with 9 in their titles debuted. I was very excited about both of them and decided that I would watch both in the theater. While the two movies were different, they both displayed a trend in modern movie making that seems to be taking hold.

The first movie, District 9, is a sci-fi, action movie that takes place in the near future. Aliens have landed in Africa and are rounded up to keep them out of the peoples' way. The movie begins with a group of people preparing to move the aliens into a new area, farther away from human society. The main character is sprayed with a suspicious chemical that starts to convert him into a Prawn (the name used for the alien race). Without giving too much away the main character discovers that the aliens are treated terribly and that their only reaal desire is to go home. The end of the movie is what I feel really struck me. I don't want to give it away, but the movie ends with more questions being brought up then answered, and while it does have a "good" ending, it is not a happy ending.

The second movie is a Tim Burton film titled 9. This film is set in a post appocolipitacal future where robots have taken over the world, killing all life. The only thing left are 9 creations that seem to have been given the gift of a soul. The characters must fight the robots and discovered why they are so special. Once again, I don't want to give too much away from the film but, it has the same feeling at the end. The end is "good," but maybe not happy, and more questions are brought up than answered.

While there could be squeals to both these films, I think that it would denigrate them to do so. While both of these movies bring up questions, the purpose of arising these questions serves better to allow the audience to think. I like movies that make you think. I feel that if you leave a movie without having to think than the director has not done his job.

On Psionics

That's right, I thought that I would write about something I know, I just feel bad because the only people who read this blog don't game. So about a month ago Wizards announced that they would be releasing the psionic class for their 4e gaming system. I was a little worried because they announced that the psion would have a point system. In the past editions the psion has always been an overpowered mage, part of this was caused by the point system. In older versions, the psion could put any magic user to shame by the pure number of spells it could use in a game. I was worried that Wizards would do the same in the new edition. To my surprise, I found that the psion was very well balanced. To really understand the balance of the psion you need to be familiar with the 4e rules, but I do have to say cu-does to Wizard for finally fixing the psion. I will have to say that 4e has really fixed a lot of the classes and if you haven't given it a shot, look into it, it makes playing all the classes fun.

Game Shame

I have always wanted to share my ideas about gaming and finally I have an out let. So why haven't I talked about gaming before now; a little thing I like to call game shame. What is game shame? Let me explain through the muse of a story. Shortly after I graduated from high school I found myself with a lot of time on my hands. I decided that I wanted to go out and buy a new video game. I bought the game on a Friday and didn't leave my room until Sunday, at which time my parents forced me out of the room so I could attend church. On Monday my younger brother was quick to announce to all of my friends that I had literally spent the entire weekend playing a video game. I was so embarrassed that I told my friends I had only played a couple of hours and that my brother was exaggerating the amount I had played. It was rather sad because my brother was actually doing me a favor by claiming I had only spent 24 hours playing where the closer number was 36 hours. It wasn't like I had never played video games like that before, in fact, unknown to most of my friends, I had frequently pulled all-nighters trying to get past one more level.
I was what most would call a closet gamer, and it wasn't only video games that I would play. Unknown to most of my friends, I also played D&D and had a rather impressive board game collection. I can hardly remember a year that I didn't ask for some sort of game. I dressed normally and could sit through "the game" without embarrassing myself too much. I talked normally and even participated in a lot of sports. I showered regularly and used deodorant. But deep down inside I wanted to grow a long beard and braid it with golden rings, swinging my greataxe to fell my opponents. I never told anyone this because it was not socially acceptable. The gamers were the bottom rung of the social ladder.
When I went to college little changed, the gamers were still mocked, though videogames had become vouge. I began to play online and gave my dice a break, not that the games I played were any different, Diablo, warcraft, heroes and other equally nerdy games. I still kept up the appearence of coolness, dating whenever a girl expressed interest, going to all the social activities, ect. It wasn't until I met my wife that I started to let my gaurd down, but you'll have to wait for the rest of the story until the next time I post.