Ok... so I'm a geek...

Yeah, I know... the above admission stuns my readers. I'm sure all five of you are going "But Strings... we thought you were so cool, with hot chicks hanging off you, and dudes wanting to be you when they grow up!". Unfortunately, no...

I used to be a serious gamer. Not the way that term is used today: nowadays, "gamer" denotes someone who plays lots of video games. Back in the day, a gamer played RPGs: games found in books, which you played using your mind, some graph paper, and MAYBE a miniature (I still collect and paint miniatures). D&D, Cyberpunk, GURPS, Deadlands... those were the games of choice among my friends. Add in Battletech, Dark Future, and Warhammer 40K, and you had most of how I spent my teenage years (and quite a few years after becoming an adult).

Previously, I mentioned something about Deadlands: this is a game set in the Weird West: think "horror movie set in the West, starring Adam Sandler". We're not talking about being serious here: the humor was a BIG part of the game.

So... myself and a friend are playing partners: our characters grew up together, and we stand by each-other whatever may come. The party is not exactly cohesive: our spirit guide is an old indian who sounds like Yoda on crack as a result of how well we work together. Because of this, we end up accidently entering the spirit realm...

Those who have played D&D know all about illusions, right? If you attempt to disbelieve, the illusion shatters? we end up in a fight (in the spirit realm), and I hand the GM a note: "I disbelieve". He smiles, hands back "just sit there quietly", and tells the other players that I "just got my head torn off"... they (predictably) go nuts, and fight all the harder...

Once they come through (with some scrapes and contusions), they find out I'm fine: that what they just went through was illusion. So we continue on, and come to a cliff (we're at the top)...

Everyone see where this is going?

My partner decides "It worked once", steps to the edge, and steps off... telling the GM "I disbelieve". I, being a good friend, follow suit.

Dying in the spirit realm is kinda interesting: your body gets possessed fairly quickly there. And playing a game where your character is a possessed gunfighter with a handgun the size of Texas is just too much fun!


And let's not talk about Cyberpunk, or the website I was working on for it once upon a time. The pics we took (my entire gun collection, and several other props, set up to look like a street dealer's warehouse) earned me police attention one afternoon (and we're still not sure how they even found out about the silly things).

Never got into LARP (Live Action Role Playing): can't bring myself to swing even a fake sword at someone without trying to do damage... especially when the target thinks they really ARE the shit, and look like it (Google LARP sometime). Playing with swords and other melee weapons for the better part of 20 years tends to impart a little ability...

Still do the Ren Faire... worked a few years for my sister at her jewelery shop (The Royal Exchange Jewelers), where I still have my knotwork pieces. Next year, I might be helping her a bit, but I'm more likely to be selling decorative stonework or kilts. Anyone reading this, who finds themselves at the Bristol Ren Faire, should look me up...

Yes... I've attended sci-fi conventions, and even dressed in costume. Cyberpunk costuming is fun: vinyl pants, motocross boots, net tanktop, the Psycho Jacket (I'll post a pic at some point), and HARDWARE (airsoft, but still)...


Nowadays, I don't do much of the above (except the Ren Faire): BACA takes loads of time, as does shooting (actually going to the range, and fighting for CCW and against anti measures). When I DO get some time and money to burn, I'm more likely to take a long bike ride, or get some friends together for a game of paintball. We DO play old-school D&D during the winter, when we really can't be outside...


What... you thought there was a point to this post? It's late, I can't sleep, and I'm doped up on Oxycodone. If there was any cohesive thought behind this post, it would be a miracle!