Websteria

Still here...

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Eberlin) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 16:39:00 +0000

sorry for the lack of posts. Things have been busy. I'll get back to a more normal schedule soon I promise!

The Cell - Part 4

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Eberlin) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 16:17:00 +0000

From out of the darkness stepped a man in a black leather trenchcoat... his first thought was that he was still dreaming and this was Morpheus from the matrix.

"Hello Paul", the nameless man said.

"Who are you? Where am I? What's going on?"

"All of that will be explained in time. Let me ask you, how do you think you got here?"

Paul explained his story to the man who stood and listened very calmly.

"And do you feel disoriented in any way?", the man asked

"Of course I do, you people drugged me..."

The man excused himself for a moment and walked over to the bank of glowing monitors. Paul sat up and wiped his eyes. His vision cleared enough to see what was on the monitors. His jaw dropped.

On one monitor Paul could see himself in the holding room in the hospital. In another he could see himself signing the papers for Sarah to be committed. On another Paul could see the room he was currently in, but it was different somehow... something wasn't right.

"Paul, focus on me. It's very important you stay here with me."

Paul felt himself becoming dizzy and disoriented. The room shifted, almost as if it were a photograph with the depth of field changing. When his vision cleared he was standing in the hospital again. The doctor who had checked him in was looking at him with a puzzled look.

"Paul? Are you ok?"

Paul stared at the doctor, and looked around. In the holding cell behind him he saw Sarah crying.

The Cell - Part 3

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Eberlin) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:06:00 +0000

Chapter 3

He slept and dreamed, nice dreams.... but he could also sense something wasn't quite right in himself...

He woke to the moonlight streaming through his window. The clock showed 4am. Can't sleep again. The cool breeze from the cracked window reminded him of nights when she used to lay there next to him. Her body warm and soft. Now all that was next to him was empty space, cold and devoid.

He looked out the window and saw the interstate in the distance. Before he knew it he'd gotten his jeans, boots, shirt and hat on and jumped in his 65 mustang and he began to drive.

He thought of the times they shared together. Their first meeting at the county fair, how she looked so beautiful as she walked down the fairway. The chance drop of her purse which he picked up and handed back to her. The look in her eyes as they met his was magic.

He asked if he could join them in their walk down the fairway, though her friend protested, she invited him along. As they walked their hands found each other. Electricity flowed between their fingers, although they didn't look at each other. Neither knew, and both knew. This was for real. After searching for so long they had found each other.

She took him on the Zipper, the one ride he'd always been afraid of. As they swung around and around, flipping upside down and rightside up she kissed him for the first time. The combination of the nauseating physical sensations combined with her kiss to give him a feeling he'd never had before. Everything faded but her, her hair flying around in the enclosed car. When the ride stopped they were still kissing. The rank smelling carnie operating the ride even watched hungrily for a few seconds before they realized he was. He then opened the door and let them out.

Over the next few months they saw each other almost every day, and talked on the phone when they couldn't. She introduced him to instant messaging on the computer and then they were virtually inseperable. She was his only one, and he hers. He couldn't understand how things had gone so wrong. He saw her walking away from his cell at the hospital again...

Suddenly, and with a great degree of terror, he realized that he wasn't in his car, and that he wasn't at the fair... he was in a dimly lit room. He couldn't make out much except for a quiet beeping, which he guessed indicated his heart rate, and someone sitting in front of a bank of glowing monitors.

"Hello Paul" a voice said from the darkness.

Oh my goodness.

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Eberlin) — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 23:21:00 +0000

I got my ENT to give me the disc with my MRI images on it, and I looked at them. I have never seen such strange things in my life. I will be dissecting some of them and showing you some of the odd illusions in there... for now you'll have to be content with this one image which is one of the most striking I've ever seen..

Title

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Eberlin) — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 15:24:00 +0000

Do you ever wonder where language and the words you use, and understand came from? How many generations of human beings did it take to accomplish fluency, and be able to agree on a common language?

Someone recently told me that in China that people can read the same languages, but they cannot speak to each other. This blows my mind. I was immediately taken to the thought of ancient Egypt with their heiroglyphics... and I wonder if they had one language and one dialect. Logic would follow that they must've since they lived in a very geographically small area, and speech would have been their main method of communication as I can't believe the normal non royalty in that time period would have known how to read anything... of course I don't know this. Perhaps the heiroglyphs were created in order to visibly teach the language to a massively illiterate society. I feel fortunate that I grew up in a society which prized the ability to read and to write. I don't write for any other reason than to get some of these things out of my head instead of boring my coworkers with them, and with the hope that someone out there in the world will get some sense of awe and wonder from seeing things the same way I do. I've tried to keep my childlike innocence about the world, since I can't imagine taking some of the things around us for granted...

Perhaps soon we'll find out what's going on with Paul in his cell...

Till then.

The Cell Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Eberlin) — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 14:54:00 +0000

Part 2 of The Cell - Please start with part 1 if you have not read it yet.

His mind raced... he thought of all the time they had spent together, snuggled up on the couch watching movies. Talking about everything they could imagine sharing. Perfection was the only word he could come up with in his mind to describe her. Now she was leaving him here, and she was the reason for his panic in the first place.

After staring out the window for an amount of time he couldn't quantify he went back to the bed and sat down. He could hear children crying, and the sounds of gurneys being rolled by outside the magnetically locked doors. He read, and re-read the bill of rights printed on some sort of metal material and then sealed in a plastic barrier informing him he had the rights to an attorney, and the rights to avoid unfair treatment. He coudn't imagine being treated much more unfairly than this. Sure, things had been stressful lately, but nothing for which he needed to be institutionalized.

He laid back down on the bed and stared at the flickering fluorescent lights and waited. He dozed again.

He was awakened by the door opening. A woman in a white coat, carrying a clipboard entered the room and signaled for the door to be locked again.

"Good morning Brian, how are you feeling?" she said.
"What the hell is going on here? Where is Sarah? Why am I locked in this room? I did nothing wrong, I'm not ill, I just want to know what is happening. And who is Brian? My name is Paul."

She simply stood there, staring at him, her face a mix of confusion and evil which he'd never seen before.

"We're going to give you some medication to help calm your nerves. I'm sure the stress of what has happened is very difficult for you cope with right now. I can assure you that everything will be alright."

Suddenly he was surrounded by four orderlies in purple scrubs. Their faces were covered with thick masks of skin, and their eyes peered at him from behind veils of sarcastic, put on concern.

He struggled, but it was no use. He screamed for help, but no one came. He felt the needle poke, familiar and painful in his right arm... then the blackness came again. Sweet, comforting and terrifying until it almost became too intense for him. As he faded he noticed doctor begin to examine something which looked eerily like a severed finger, bleeding profusely. He wondered if it was his... his fingers didn't hurt, but he couldn't really see anything at this point.

"Take him to section 4. We'll continue there." were the last words he heard before he blacked out.

The Cell

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Eberlin) — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 15:49:00 +0000

He rushed home after he got the call. Something urgent had happened, but his mind was a blur. Things hadn't been the same since that dream of running, hiding from the monster... and that had been a few weeks ago.

He watched in the mirror as the bag was packed. He had to do something this time, it was serious. There were threats made that could change the course of people's lives and he had to make sure that didn't happen. The bags were packed, showers taken and he drove to the emergency room. After waiting for an hour and a half they took him back to the room where his girlfriend would be evaluated.

After the nurse came in to take her to get changed he laid there and looked around. The room was a controlled room for flight risks, which made sense because she definitely was a risk. The statements she'd made, the letters, all of it was far too clear. Time passed, as time only can in a white room with no clocks. He looked around to take it in.

The first thing he noticed was the lack of anything on the walls, and the way the screws which held the panels in place were spackled over to prevent anyone from getting to them. There was a plaque which indicated what her (his?) civil rights were. That he was protected from electroshock therapy, that anything he (she?) said could be used in a court to determine mental stability.

The walls were flush with the floor, and there were a great number of steel panels screwed into it. Behind a locked panel was a camera, for observation, and there were only two small windows, one on each door. The doors had no handles, so there was no way out. In the center of the room was a wooden and metal platform which held a thin uncomfortable mattress. He laid down on it.

The ceiling was dotted with flourscent fixtures and one air vent, as well as something which appeared to be a fire extinguisher... however it also looked different. It had a nipple instead of the usual piece of plastic which burns away to release the water. He wondered if this was a method of control but didn't notice any drains on the floors.

He looked at the door and could only imagine who had scraped the paint away. It was dirty near the bottom, as if many people had been here and tried to get out by peeling the door away. Some of the spackel had been removed from the bolts on the wall as well, as if it was believed people without any metal implements could remove the bolts. He closed his eyes to wait for the doctors to bring her back.

Suddenly he opened his eyes and found himself in a pair of scrubs. His clothes had been changed, but he didn't know by whom. The door opened and a doctor came in... The doctor was saying something about how he was here to evaluate his condition and that he'd been through a very traumatic time. He didn't understand, he was here for his girlfriend. He asked the doctor about this, and the doctor looked confused.

"What is your girlfriend's name?"
"Sarah", he said glumly.

The doctor stared back at him and told him that a social worker would be in soon to talk to him. This time when the doctor left he heard the electromagnetic locks engage. He heard muffled words about Sarah. He could hear her voice. He felt his whole world go into freefall. When would he see her again? What was going on here?

As he peered out the window he thought he saw her walking away, but could he be sure?

... to be continued.

Apologies for lack of posts..

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Eberlin) — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 15:46:00 +0000

Things have been hectic lately and I've not been able to make my posting time in the morning. Depending on how things go I will do one tonight, but definitely tomorrow. My palsy is slowly going away but is still here. Hopefully in another few weeks. I do have a brain based on the MRI and actually greatly enjoyed the experience.

ttfn

Short Post Today

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Eberlin) — Wed, 28 May 2008 18:10:00 +0000

My ENT wants me to go for an MRI tomorrow, although there's nothing obviously wrong. My hearing is fine according to the Audiologist. He's upping my prednisone which will increase my diziness, outrageous appetite and nausea. Yay! Oh it's supposed to reduce swelling in my nerve as well...

Listening to my old band, Larger Than Leon. We were really good... wish we had stuck it out and worked through our issues with each other. The band really was breaking down before I moved to Portland.... but if we had actually applied ourselved in the San Diego scene we might have been able to have a record you could've heard...

Oh well, such is life. We all make decisions we have to live with. Maybe I'll get into another band someday, or do my own solo thing. I do want to work on my own music more... just been so exhausted with this illness.

SOC Blog #11 - David part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Eberlin) — Tue, 27 May 2008 15:21:00 +0000

continuation...

My cells lifted, lifted, lifted.... I could feel gravity lessening as the ground hurtled towards me like some sort of odd illusion.

This was it. My life flashed before my eyes in cold disjointed images. Father with his belt, Mother with her flashing smile. My daughter, my wife.... my brain released massive quantities of adrenaline with the ground less than 50 feet beneath me.

I had been flailing in mid air, and at the moment the adrenaline hit me I was facing away from the building, as if I were simply walking away from it. My cells lunched me backwards slamming me into the side of the building right above the front door. My breath knocked out of me and with people looking to see what was happening, I coughed and heaved. I was alive. It wasn't all over, in fact it seemed to be just the beginning.

Then I lost consciousness.

Hours seemed to pass in instants. I could see muted lights, and blue glows around me when I opened my eyes for seconds before passing back into what felt like a calm, drug induced sleep.

........

A dark figure glanced from my chart and back down to him.

"Let him sleep it off," he said in a deep voice. "We'll talk more wIn I wakes up."

To be continued

Sunday At The Mall

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Eberlin) — Mon, 26 May 2008 00:02:00 +0000

We are over here at washington square today watching ethan play in the play structure.

I feel particularly odd today. My temperature feels elevated even though its comfortable to everyone else. Could be my body is finally starting to turn the tide on the theoretical cause of the inflammation of my seventh cranial nerve.

I decided today that im officially over being ok with this conditio however since I can do nothing to change it I must accept it. In doing that it does not change the impact, but it does take some of the weight off of my shoulders.

I do not have to be a prisoner to this condition, just as one does not have to stay in a job they do not want. I must accept the conditions of my body and do what I can to help it. I am feeling some tingles in my cheeks and lips, although my eyes are not closing any further, nor am I able to actually move that which feels as though its moving.

I do, however, internally feel the muscle fibers tightening. When its been numb, any changes are noticable.

Have a good weekend!

Bells Palsy Video

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Eberlin) — Fri, 23 May 2008 19:41:00 +0000

Here's a video to show you all how it looks hangin' with the palsy.

SOC Blog #9 - Time and Space

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Eberlin) — Fri, 23 May 2008 14:53:00 +0000

As I've said before I've always had a fascination with time. At this very moment of our perception of reality I am typing these words out. All of you are doing something very specific right now. Some of you are sleeping, some are driving to work. Some are thinking about a random thought. But you're not doing the same thing as many others in the world.

Perhaps this is what causes the world to work, the uniqueness of our energy and intentions all coalesced into the reality we choose to agree upon. Good enough for government work reality is a term I find useful to describe it. Regardless of the atomic structure of my fingers, or the interpretation of my brain of the vibrations of music, we all can agree I am typing a blog and listening to Chris Isaak's Wicked Game. What's happening underneath the covers is a completely different experience.

I've come to decide that time is not actual as real as we perceive it to be. Time is something we've created as human beings to explain the passing of the days, to measure intervals... and in that way it's an incredibly useful abstraction of what is really going on.

Don't get wme wrong, I have no idea what the true nature of the universe is. If I did I would certainly share it with all of you. I just don't believe time is as simple as "I started work at 6:30 and will do this for 30 minutes, etc". There's always something beneath the simplest of our observations of the natural world.

Do a favor for me. Stop for a moment and look down at any random object on your desk. Chances are that it arrived there merely because you placed it at a moment when you weren't thinking. That object, no matter what it is, is comprised of a huge number of atoms, forming molecules which are held together by electrical bonds which prevent them from disintigrating into their component elements. After all, an element is simply an atomic structure comprised of a certain number of electrons and neutrons circling the nucleus of an atom. Much in the same way the moon circles the earth, or the earth circles the sun, or the solar system circles whatever it circles...

Or maybe I'm just a little crazy. ;-)

Peace.

SOC Blog #8 - Death And Will

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Eberlin) — Thu, 22 May 2008 14:32:00 +0000

I had a thought yesterday and it sprung forward this idea.

I was wondering how many people would do it if, upon my death, I had it in my will that I wanted the muscles from my body removed and cooked; and that each person who held an affection for me would eat a small piece of me.

Firstly of course I don't know the legalities of this, and of course there's the obvious comparisons to christ asking his disciples to eat of his body and drink of his blood. This would not be my intention at all. I just would rather that some small part of me nourish those stil living here. Of course, the fact that I would be exiting their bodies a few days later and into their systems is also an interesting idea.

Went to urgent care yesterday as the right side of my face, save a little bit of movement in my eye is completely paralysed. I'm planning on doing some sort of youtube video showing the fun sorts of things you can do with Bell's Palsy... You can look like an insane person, you can take a piece of paper and split yourself into the human half and the robot half, and you can speak as though you have a great deal of food in your mouth.

On the downside I need to put eyedrops in all the time. I'm on 3 different treatments now, antiviral, anti-inflammatory and a goo I get to put in my eye at night which is then covered with a gauze patch... Arrr me mateys..

Thank you to all of you who read this every day. As much as I want to act like I write this for myself, it's for the readers who glean some sort of enjoyment, or deeper understanding of who I am that it's all about.

Quick plug..

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Eberlin) — Wed, 21 May 2008 16:25:00 +0000

This is an article done on Eurogames in the Portland Tribune. I'm quoted at the beginning! :-)

SOC Blog #7 - Contemplation

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Eberlin) — Wed, 21 May 2008 14:45:00 +0000

David - Short Story fragment #1

Standing atop the building overlooking the city in midmorning always makes me feel better. Up here, high above the concrete jungle below, I feel free; almost as if I could fly. The way things have been going lately every day I feel like maybe it would be worth it to see if I could fly. I know it's a crazy thought and that even the scientists have told me the chances are slim.

You see, my power is only theorized to be brought on by massive adrenaline spikes. They can simulate this in the lab and see me levitate above the table, however every time they have tried having me fly with a net beneath I have failed. The theory is that it must be a true situation, such as standing on the edge of my building and looking down... feeling the fear.

I've contemplated this moment for so many weeks since the initial treatments. I step to the edge and look down. These same streets where Spider Man and Super Man have travelled in their own fictional adventures, they could be my redemption or I could be a victim of an apparent suicide.

I decide, this is the moment, if I am fated to fly then I will fly. If not then I will only know for a short period of time. I don't know how I'd express it to my wife. After everything I went through to be with her... all the pain of waiting and divorce. Is it worth it to possibly die to see if I can fly?

Somewhere nearby somewhere is playing the song "The world I know" by Collective Soul. I can't help but feel some irony as I act out the lyrics, stepping to the edge to see the world below... then stepping off the edge and watching the ground rush up to meet me.

I feel my cells struggling to lift. My fall begins to slow, but I don't know if it will be enough....

To be continued...

On my way home after...

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Eberlin) — Wed, 21 May 2008 00:26:00 +0000

On my way home after another day of work. I love this jott.com service, since I can call my phone, speak into it and have Jott transcribe my entry and post it directly to Blogger. It's really amazing and makes me feel like we've entered the 21st century with full force. Unfortunately the palsy(?) prevents jogger(?) from understanding many of the things I say because I can't properly form letters with the word Z or F at the moment. It makes me feel like some what of an invalid, but I guess that's what I'll have to deal with. I have another doctors appointment tomorrow at 11:00 am which I plan on waking in time. Hope you all are having a nice day. I am feeling better after getting some some work done this afternoon and looking forward to a relaxing evening. Till tomorrow, Jeff. listen

Powered by Jott

A short rant about doctors

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Eberlin) — Tue, 20 May 2008 17:08:00 +0000

I'm generally a fairly understanding person. I ended up being 20 minutes late to my doctor's appointment and if you are more than 15 minutes late they have the opportunity to reschedule you.

The receptionist originally told me I could still be seen, but then the doctor said she wanted to reschedule me, even though the information I'd read said that if treatment didn't start within 2-3 days of onset (this is day 2) that it's less effective... and the palsy's gotten worse. I can't say "B" words properly now, and my eye is getting more difficult to close.

I informed her that I had waited a large number of times, and I'm sure I'm not the only one, when the doctor had an emergency appointment and had to push me out by an hour or so.... of course since I'm not the one in power I have no control over either situation.

The end case is that I am going again tomorrow at 11am. I am furious yet there is nothing I can do about it. Doctor, take a good look at your empty waiting room and heal thyself.

On my way to the doctors...

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Eberlin) — Tue, 20 May 2008 15:56:00 +0000

On my way to the doctors now. Sorry for no stream of consciousness blog this morning. I just didn't get around to it because I had to come in at 6:30 AM in order to make up the time for the appointment. However, now I am on the freeway sitting in traffic. Apparently I forgot to leave in time. If I have time later, I will write something up. I will update the blog afterwards to let you know how the appointment went. Have a good day.
Jeff

Powered by Jott

Bell's Palsy

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Eberlin) — Mon, 19 May 2008 14:49:00 +0000

Good morning everyone. Last night after I got home from an amazing weekend of gaming in Sun River I discovered that a condition which I had ages ago has reared it's ugly facially paralytic head again.... At the moment I appear to be suffering for the second time in my life from Bell's Palsy. This is a condition in which one of the nerves going to the face becomes pinched and causes one side of the face to either be completely paralyzed or, in my case, partially paralyzed.

The odd thing is that it's worse near the bottom, and less bad near the top. Aside from looking like a freak when I smile and being unable to spit my toothpaste out without feeling like an invalid, the worst part is that my right eye will not blink when I normally blink. I have to force it very consciously. This causes the eye to become irritated and, obviously, dry. Thankfully I have contacts and some eye drops to help combat that.

There is no known cause for the condition, which usually resolves itself within 2-3 weeks. It can be brought on by emotional stress... check... extreme changes in temperature... check.... physical stress... hmmm I was sitting around for almost 3 days... Last time this happened to me, in about 1992, it ended within 2 weeks. In the meantime if you see me trying to laugh and I appear to have just escaped from my padded cell after convalescing... hmmm... true or palsy?

:-, <-- bells palsy smiley (tm)

Since this IS a stream of consciousness blog, here's your stream for the day:

Crystal blue waters under a nearly darkened purple sky. A mountain in the distance the only shape, silhouetting a small empty rowboat. The sounds here are not of human origin, sounding more like music than animals. The boat lists aimlessly on the surface, listing this way and that as the tides pull and push it. Somewhere a child's dream has become a reality.

See you tomorrow.

Sun River

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Eberlin) — Fri, 16 May 2008 15:05:00 +0000

Good morning to all of you. I know I said I might not do a blog today, but I couldn't let you all down. I'm sitting here right now at a house in Sunriver, Oregon. It's about 20 miles outside of bend.

Last night my friend Matt and I drove down here at 9:30 and arrived at 1:30.... not bad time for a trip of the length. I'm currently sitting outside the house on the balcony. I can see mount bachelor and lots and lots of trees. There are a lot of other houses around too, but not the population density you see in the suburbs. This is on a golf course I guess, so all the streets are called "Dogleg" or "Winner's" circle....

I got to bed about 1:30, and woke up around 7 or so... took a shower and then here I am. I guess this isn't very stream of consciousness... but I'm in a different environment today. I can hear the birds singing, and I can see the huge blue sky. The trees are amazing. This is exactly what I envisioned when I though of Oregon originally. Nature, blue skies...well maybe not blue skies.... but lots of trees.... snow peaked mountains and chilly mornings.

There's no air conditioning here, so hopefully we won't all burn up! :-)

If you'd like to check in on what's happening here, live and in realtime check out http://live.yahoo.com/Websteria . I can't guarantee it'll be on all the time, but I'm going to make an effort to keep it up as much as possible so people can share in the joy that is men geeking out on board games. Perhaps it'll gain you a little insight into this other world.

With that I bit you adeiu for now. Tune in and say hi if you can.

Peace, and be mindful.

Time

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Eberlin) — Thu, 15 May 2008 14:40:00 +0000

This morning, as I was getting Ethan ready for school I explained to him that one day he'd be as old as I am. That time passes moment by moment and never stops. He looked at me, lifted a sock and said "Sock?"

Time has always fascinated me. The very notion of time "passing" us by. Generally if something passes you then you can go back and get it or, as in a passing car's sake, you can catch up to it. It's interested that time passes us, but we can't stop to allow it to catch up to us.

In fact it is only possible that we are passing through time, and time has no desire to catch up with us.

I had a realization last night. In order to create an extremely accurate simulation of our world in a computer it would require us to be able to calculate a huge number of things which nature is doing on it's own. For example, my distribution of weight on the ground affects the way my viewpoint changes. The vertebrae in my back, the muscles moving, the ground texture, etc.

I then realized that there is a gigantic number of calculations being done every minute. Even as my fingers type this. As my finger comes down to press the key the atomic structure of the plastic interacts with the atomic structure of my skin based on the force which is pressing down. This interaction could be calculated by us, but instead the laws of physics cause the appropriate actions to happen. We've already been down the road of what happens from there. :-)

So, is something actually calculating it, or have all the calculations been premade, and each atom knows how it should react and thus due to the laws of physics reacts the way it does? At this point I wondered if we had free will, because if the calculations have been predone then maybe our own thought processes have been premade, not in terms of a diety or god, but in terms of the universe.

I then realized that there could be, just as in a video game for example, calculations made to say what happens when you crash a car into a lightpole... but nothing's FORCING you to do that. So I came to the conclusion that I am in no way qualified to say how we got here, or what we're doing here. I am simply grateful we are here.

In that moment, as I mentioned in the mindfullness blog, I became aware that life was not always as I perceived it, and that I didn't have to be afraid of it anymore. That of course may not be permanent, since all things change... but it's hard not to feel good when work is good, your son can listen to you discussing the laws of time, and you are going on a 3 day gaming retreat. I may write something tomorrow but it might not be as long....

The Metamorphosis of the Wind

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Eberlin) — Wed, 14 May 2008 14:53:00 +0000

High above the ocean below, the gull floats watching the shoreline. He remembers when he used to be among them, one of them as they would say. He feels the wind underneath him lifting him higher and for a moment allows it to happen, then dives down towards the people below.

The sense of speed is a rush he never encountered in his life as one of the humans. He likes to think of them as seperate now since he'll never get back there. He flies gracefully along the beach, skimming the surface of the sand, watching the children building castles.

He lands on a rock and relaxes his wings. He remembers how it all happened, he thinks about it every day. The mysterious stranger, the paper, the signature... he didn't believe any of it... until the next morning when he woke up in a nest, snuggled up to another bird. He wonders if somewhere his former body is walking around out there somewhere. One of the disadvantages of being a bird is the lack of knowledge as to the level of geography he knew as a human.

He's tried to get back to Louisiana to see what has happened there, but he doesn't know the way. He's discovered in the 6 weeks of birddom several things: Flying is not overrated in the slightest. Female birds are even more difficult to date than human females. It's wonderful not having to go to work anymore... and somewhere along the lines of the transformation he lost the ability to read or understand human language. He figures that something had to give in order to fit any of his previous memories inside this tiny little head he's got now.

His senses are quickly drawn back to him by a small brown haired child running towards him yelling "Birdie!!!". He smiles to himself, flies off and drops something for the child to remember him by.

It's early...

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Eberlin) — Tue, 13 May 2008 13:10:00 +0000

Going in early today so that I can be at Ethan's parent teacher conference today, and to try to make up some of the time for the Sunriver retreat this weekend.

This will be my first time going somewhere away for 3 days and playing games pretty much nonstop. I'm looking forward to it, and wondering how my brain will do on a lack of sleep, lots of caffiene, sugar and alchohol all while trying to make rational decisions on if I want people in Southeast germany to vote for me playing Die Macher... if that reference doesn't make sense click on the link. It will pop open a new window..

Die Macher is infamous in gaming circles. It's widely considered to be the first "Euro" style game that was created in germany. These are the types of games I consider to be the most fun because, unlike most american games, they make you think and plan in a long term method. Don't get me wrong, I'm not great at them, but that hasn't stopped my enthusiasm. Much like chess, I feel that the more I play the more I learn. Unlike chess however I have over 170 of these (see the collection here). You can click on each one to see something about it.

Anyways, Die Macher simulates the German election system and takes 6 or so hours to play. Hey, you think that's long? There's a game where you backstab your best friends which takes 7 hours to play called "Diplomacy". I'm sure most of you who aren't even game players have heard of that one. Regardless I've wanted to play it for a while but you don't get that much time to play one game often... given 24 hours in a day and only about 6 of those needed for sleep and maybe 2-3 for eating and showering that gives us about 15-16 per day for gaming... x3 that's about 40 total... I'm going to get an entire work week's worth of gaming in.... :-) The interesting thing should be to see how many of my games get on the table.

People who are really into eurogames are an unusual breed of folks. If I had to profile them it would be as follows:

Intelligent
Like challenges and learning new things (you have to be given all the differen rules)
Enjoys interactions with other people. This is the big difference between exclusive video gamers.
Generally opinionated on wanting to play the games they brought (this varies from "would you guys like to play" to the people who will not play anything they brought).

There are also various archetypes in the gaming world:

Hardcore gamers: These are the people who only like to play games which are extremely cerebral most of the time. There are some of these in my weekend group, and while I enjoy playing these games too I have to have some lighter fare too. I'll give an example of a heavy game:

Imagine you have to power an entire country, but you have limited resources, you're competing with people on auctions for power plants. These plants require various amounts of resources to power a number of cities. You have to go through an auction for the plants. You must then buy, on a limited market, the resources to power these plants. With any remaining money you have to put "houses" in cities which represent that you can power the city. However, other people can block your routes, and each route from city to city has a price that goes with it too. Simple right? :-) This game is called "Power Grid". This game is currently the second highest rated board game on Board Game Geek even though I've only gotten my copy out 1 time I'm really happy to have it.

People who get VERY upset if you honestly forget a rule that affects them when you're playing a "learning" first game with them. Sometimes these people will never play that game with you again because they feel that you were trying to cheat them when maybe you didn't completely

Gateway Game

Game Info

Video Review

here

Middle Of The Road

Yspahan

Game Info

Video Review

Brain Burner

Reef Encounter

Game Info

Video Review

collection

SOC Blog #7 - Vision Quest

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Eberlin) — Mon, 12 May 2008 14:45:00 +0000

The shaman danced in the moonlight. He looked at the moon, his source of inspiration for so many years. He had to keep his people safe in this time of desperation. The opposing tribe was strong, and forthright, but he knew that if he traveled to his sacred place he would see the answer. The effects should have happened by now. He asked the moon god if perhaps the plant was faulty, then...

He heard music surrounding him. The voices of his ancestors sang strongly, leading his eyes to the opposing camp. He could hear them planning the attack, hear them sharpening their spears in the dark savannah night. He could feel the heat from the fire, and hear the crackling noises.

Although they spoke a different dialect he could understand them perfectly clearly. His spirit floated over the camp and for a moment he forgot that he was there to gather information. He saw the sacred mountains off in the distance, beckoning the way they always had to him. During his first vision quest as a child he had spent many hours sitting on the peak of one of those mountains marvelling at the way nature worked. Watching the lions work to take down the gazelles. Observing herds of Giraffe and Rhinoceroses.

His attention was drawn back by the sight of the chief of the camp gathering all around. His plan was simple, to sneak in during the dead of night during the next full moon and steal all the grain. Then he heard something which chilled him from to the bone.....

to be continued...