I've just got a quick post about liturgical silliness. I think this afternoon was a record score for our BMP rating.

At 4:15-5:30 we had our pointless class where we're now giving 20-minute presentations. I went first and gave my daily heresy. Gideon did the wrong assignment for the second time now. Then we went to evening prayer.

-The opening song was off-key.

-Then we magically started singing a morning prayer tune on the following page.

-Then we starting singing two melody lines on account of tone-deaf singers.

-Then we sang an extra verse out of sheer confusion.

-Then the cantor didn't start the correct psalm on account of it being Saint Luke's feast day.

-Then someone else started the correct psalm on the wrong side.

-Then Arul mispronounced "afflicted" so badly that our side thought we had the wrong page open like the cantor and stopped chanting.

-Then I let out a short chuckle at the absurdity of the situation. Not the best thing for me to do at the time, but totally justified.

So that's seven separate blunders in the space of approximately two minutes. I'm not counting my laughter as a "blunder".

I did, however, feel pretty bad about emailing my teaching committee and canceling this Sunday's meeting. It turns out that I'm going to fall off the face of the earth this weekend for our communications workshop, which is every bit as inconvenient as it might sound. But the seminary requires four whole days of my time and sharing is for protestants.

...and the October open roda has come and gone. A handful of Chicago people, and no one from the Madison group. It's odd, because I was told that this roda was basically for boosting Milwaukee-Madison relations. I'm sad now, because it's been so long I can barely remember the names of the Madison people. What's-her-face, That Guy, Ridiculously-hot-person, Breadman, and even Cartoon-alien-guy. Oh yeah, and that girl who wanted me to set her on fire just to see if I really did keep the equipment in my car. She was pretty cool, at least for a person I've only talked to for 15 minutes.

Maybe they're mad at me?

I'm also sad because it doubled up as a goodbye roda for Jacob. He was our resident samba guy and a pretty good low-level instructor. He's joining the group in Chicago, so now I've got yet one more reason to visit that place.

"Passion flows from the heart like blood from a wound. Staunch it and it clots and scars. Leave it to run free and it may kill you." -Anonymous Satyr

Fun Justin lie: I've totally not been purring to myself all day long over this.

Anyway, it is done: anime-eye contacts and werewolf teeth are 6-10 business days away.

Now it's time for scotch, the last of my pipe tobacco for the year, and the rest of Chapter 2 of Kithbook: Satyrs.

Purr!

You know why I love the company of dancers? Because they spin fire. In a group. While another dancer shouts commands at them. Like

"EVERYONE CORKSCREW AT THE SAME!"

"NOW CORKSCREW IN THE SAME DIRECTION!"

"Yeah, clockwise, people!"

"NO! COUNTER-CLOCKWISE SOUNDS MORE EVIL! IN FACT, GO REVERSE CLOCKWISE!"

"NOW LEVITATE!"

Watching that filled me with much-needed glee. Also, one more Tuesday night = one more unit of passive peer pressure to learn a more girly form of fire dancing. Part of me wants to resist. Another part doesn't.

Sleepin' time. I'm still in the dark about all sorts of stuff, but I'm allowing myself to enjoy a small glimmer of hope for Saturday's capoeira roda. I'll be a Russian the weekend after that for a space program-themed communications workshop. Dennis got the whole Russian team authentic Russian hats. Now we need to bring along some vodka bottles and we'll be all set.

Ok! I've narrowed down the Halloween costume to two sets of possibilities: teeth and contact lenses.

Teeth first. See, for a while now, I've wanted tusks to be properly “trollish”. I've come to the conclusion that no one really sells those. However, I can get a werewolf fangs set.

I'd be able to use the bottom two teeth and leave the uppers for a random vampire LARP. My hesitation comes from an accidental discovery of coolness: retractable vampire fangs! Yes, I realize that no changeling kith really has vampire fangs and that a vampire's a vampire's a vampire. But they seem so cool I don't really care all that much. I do, however, fear that these fangs don't necessarily look cool on everybody. I'd hate to get them and then discover that they grossly differ in color compared to my real teeth.

Still... SO COOL!

I'm seriously torn between these two choices 50/50. Ready... aim... VOTE!

The second tough choice is one of contact lenses. My shitty blue ones finally overstayed their welcome and they've moved out. I wish our relationship had been a more loving and honest one. Choice one, which I'm currently favoring, is blue anime contacts.

To continue with the above personification, this contact set would be the incredibly hot cousin of my old contact lens set who's just come home from Japan and has all the same interests as I do. Although I wish the site showed a full profile of someone wearing these contacts, I love what they're advertised to do: their change your eye color and enlarge your pupils. Ideally, people should get an “anime character” vibe from this effect. Without a reliable photo, I'm a bit skeptical of the actual effects, but I'm willing to try in the name of science!

http://www.bodyjewelleryshop.com/online_store/blue-manga-contact-lens-complete-set.cfm

The second choice is the good ol' fashioned cat eyes – possibly the most popular of theatrical contact effects!

I pretty much know what I'd be getting here. My issue here is their limited usefulness. I'd wear these for Halloween and the GenCon LARP, and that's about it. I need to be on my best behavior at school now, so I don't feel comfortable wearing these around school on any other occasion. My capoeira group would just give me weird looks as well, which limits me to wearing them to Madison for no good reason. So unless there's some kind of compelling argument out there, I think I'm going to go for the anime contacts. That's not to say that I'm closed to suggestions or opinions!

http://www.bodyjewelleryshop.com/online_store/white-cat-eye-contact-lens-complete-set.cfm

EDIT: while drooling over contact lenses, I found a new nifty pair. It's in second place, with the anime eyes remaining as the most plausible purchase. The video gives me hope about the reliability of the lenses.

http://www.bodyjewelleryshop.com/online_store/white-screen-contact-lenses-pair.cfm

Well, I've been thinking a lot today and I'm not in any particular relation to a real sort of conclusion.

But while training with my sister, I managed to get a new capoeira move in that I've been working on for about a month. That's always good. Hopefully I can show it off next Wednesday.

It's done. Pictures tomorrow. I'm quite proud of myself for devoting so much time to this. Due to an unacceptable amount of potential witnesses, I spent over two hours sneaking around a monestary pretending I was up to something wholesome and innocent.

The timeline:

8:30: I arrive at Sacred Heart a little earlier than expected. People are milling about in the kitchen, including kitchen staff.

8:45: I go to the library to kill time.

9:15: Patrick sees me. “Hey Justin, there's a cooking class getting out soon. There's tons of people and food in the kitchen!” I swear on the inside for the delay.

9:45: Practice capoeira in the gym.

10:15: Still people in kitchen. Pray two decades of the rosary in chapel.

10:30: Give up on people leaving, go to kitchen.

I do the deed with four guys around – all good guys. They promised not to say anything (yeah, right!) as I cut into the plastic milk bag and poured an entire bottle of red dye into it, staining my hands in the process. I tape the bag shut as well as I can with mailing tape and affix my calling card – a badly-drawn kitty face with ears and the phrase “you've been had by the Pooka Prowler!” - to the top of the box enclosing the milk bag.

I shook the bag, but it didn't do enough to get the milk to come out red or even pink. I hope the dye mixes with the milk by morning. Otherwise I'll still be entertained, because people will observe the machine working properly with ordinary milk until they get to the last bit of the supply when the dye will hit them hard. I only worry that I can't be there to witness the inevitable!

The inventory:

For most of my evening, I was walking around with a roll of tape, a rather sharp kitchen knife, and a bottle of dye. Getting pulled over by the police would not have been good. Also, I felt a bit guilty about bringing a knife into two separate chapels.

Time for bed now. My hands are stained, I did very good work during the day, I ate NOTHING but sugary junk food all evening long, and I eagerly await tomorrow's breakfast at Sacred Heart when the dye hopefully becomes visible upon delivery.

Happy Squirrel Noise!

The transformation is happening already... I am, once again, becoming The Pooka Prowler. I can't stop it, I can only hope to direct the power of the playfully mischievous.

Tonight's caper: sneak into Sacred Heart's lunchroom, surgically open up the milk dispenser using vital skills learned at Beloit College, and die the 2% milk blood red for tomorrow.

It's ok. I did exceptionally well in interpersonal communications and Spanish, so no consequences could possibly await me. Pookapookapooka.

Today was a much better day.

Total count for the Yin Yang tie: one concerned inquiry, three insults out of love, and four or five genuine compliments. A good turnout, all-in-all.

Class was less boring, and I got a huge surge of glamour from Inherit The Earth, the Hunter short story anthology now being sold online for $2.00. Also, my honors paper in logic is going well. To quote Dr. Gallam: “Justin, I've got one problem with the paper so far, and what I think we should do about the problem... The problem is that you've already solved the problem.” When the dust is settled, I'll be a sort of unofficial expert on logical/philosophical negation, and that idea fills me with Aristotelian glee.

Fire dancing at the lakefront was really cool, with music from Aladdin, Willy Wonka, and beats antique. Plus, the dancers are starting to remember me and talk to me. It's like the diet version of making friends, really. I had to laugh, however, at the strange turn of conversation at the end of the night. We all were sitting on a blanket listening to one of the dancers talk about strippers fire dancing naked, which led to men lighting their junk on fire, to stories about male strippers – stories complete with words like “hey-hos”, “wake-ups”, and “flappings”. All eight of us basically lapsed into 8-year-olds at Stripper Story Hour with Grandma Stacy. Walking away, I remarked that my last conversation was about chalices and candle-lighting protocols. I seem to have a wide array of discussion topics in my life, and I'm not sure why life turns out like this so often... Ah well. Sleepy time.

Tomorrow is going to be awesome: a REAL spiritual renewal day, unlike the shams from last year. Tomorrow we have a mere half an hour of meetings in the morning and another half hour in the afternoon. A silent lunch after Mass at noon. The rest of the day is for prayer or study. I am so in the mood to write a nice long entry in my spiritual journal (including the massive task of completing The List), read some Sonnets, and let my mind unfold for a while. Then visitors, dinner, and some much-needed capoeira. It's much needed because I'm getting very negligent about it, and I could be improving so much more with a little extra will. Buh. A problem for another time. So tired.

Also, missing Madison lots. I want to go vest shopping and drink tea.

This doesn't really belong on “The List” but it bears remarking anyway. This morning, upon my arrival at Sacred Heart, I went to get my first cup of coffee as usual. One of the nuns (the one who edits papers for the international students) was also getting coffee and spilled a bit on the counter.

“AWW! WHAT DID YOU DO?!?”

“I just spilled a little. Don't worry, I'll clean it up.”

We joked & chatted a bit and I ended with a stock phrase of “we've all been there, don't worry about it”. I poured my creamers into my cup, grabbed a lid, and moved to the other end of the counter where the coffee machine was... and my cup tipped over, spilling all the cream onto the counter. She only needed a split-second to see it.

“HA! (excited & vengeful “ha”, not actual laughter) SERVES YOU RIGHT! Wow, I can't believe that! There really is a God! I know for sure now!”

Add another monologue in my head - Father Justin Lopina: reigniting faith in snarky nuns, one instance of karmic debt at a time, since 2010.

This whole event greatly amuses me, even though it was kind of depressing to look back on my day and have my high moment at 8:45 am, with nothing to do with prayer, classes, friends, or music. But then again, my day was so terribly boring apart from my hidden Hunter: The Reckoning book, it would have been a flat-out bad day without my encounter at the coffee bar.

One more benefit: I also feel perfectly justified wearing my Yin Yang tie tomorrow for the first time. I already decided to risk it last night, but now I've got a good story to hide behind in case I'm accused of heresy. I'm quite curious to see just how many times something like that comes up. I'm going to guess a dozen playful teases and three actual complaints. I'll post the final count tomorrow evening.

September 26th, 2010: Unknowingly played Death Note theme to an unconscious baby during benefactor's monthly Family Holy Hour.

It's one of those three-day long chapel weekends. Attempts at Hero Quest, Dread, and/or any other game sort of floundered. So it's a Saturday night with anime and the sewing kit.

This just in: sewing is infuriatingly difficult!

It took way too long to figure out how to sew a collar onto a shirt's neckline. Symbolic logic is child's play by comparison.

Secondly, I really need to formally begin that "things I've gotten in trouble for in the seminary" list. Today's entry will be "nearly got into a fist fight with a high-ranking priest in front of a television crew".

The issue was due to serving a Mass with a priest I'd never met before. We began our televised Masses today: four 25-minute long Masses a day, one Saturday a month. I served as acolyte for the later two. For my first Mass, the priest did the prayers a little differently. See, normally, a priest is supposed to take the cruet of wine, pour the appropriate amount of wine into his chalice and the cups, and then hand the rest of the wine to the acolyte. Instead, he blessed THE WHOLE CRUET for a whopping seven people. So after that Mass was done I had to personally consume an amount of Precious Blood that would have served thirty people - about three glasses' worth - in a matter of seconds. On the down side, I was tipsy on Jesus, which seems irreverent even for my standards. On the plus side, that probably makes me like 30 times as holy as I normally am. Law of conservation of holiness, and all that.

So after the second Mass, which went smoother, the director basically said: "Wow, perfect! Father Mike, can you come back for another recording? The timing was great, your homily was good, and you and Justin completely understood each other and worked together, unlike the last Mass where Justin and Father Leonard practically got into a fist fight near the end."

I realize that when someone says that, pride isn't what I'm supposed to experience. But the image in my mind of me fighting a priest over liturgical protocol is just too amusing for shame to really take hold.

So I went ahead and bought Dread today. Last night I had a rather vivid dream about the first scenario I want to run. I rarely experience fear in my dreams, but this was quite the exception. A book that can do that is significant indeed – it's 100 pages long and I've already read 35 during class. Uh, I really don't want to brag about that, but Mondays and Tuesdays have so much time that demand my presence but not my brain. A nice incognito book really is a blessing.

Madison people: anyone up for a game this weekend? I'm itching for a nice horror game, and I've been missing Madison a little earlier than usual this time 'round. The Changeling game has probably been delayed until November or later due to a busy James.

On the topic of games, I got together with the guys last night for a few rounds of Hero Quest. I love that game in all its simplicity! I also love that when we play it, we're EXACTLY like we were when we were 13 years old, only we were drinking beer and had somewhat improved vocabulary.

“I'm going to kick in the door, everyone get ready! One, two, OH NO I'VE GOT THE SHITS!”

-Barbarian runs off to the corner-

“So that's why they all wear loincloths instead of pants like the rest of us.”

“Dwarf, that is the last time you pick the restaurant! Mexican food does not mix with adventuring!”

“Joe, you're the wizard, you shouldn't search for treasure. You're the weakest character and because you go last, the wandering monsters get to attack twice before we can attack back. Do you underst...”

“I SEARCH FOR TREASURE!”

“You get attacked by a wandering monster.”

“With God as my witness, I will search for treasure in every room in this dungeon!”

-Barbarian and Dwarf charge into a room, preventing the others from attacking due to the many monsters-

“I search for treasure.”

“Ryan! Don't do that during combat!”

“You get attacked by a wandering monster. He'll move on to maul the wizard after you.”

“Well you're blocking the door, so I can't do anything else!”

“So you're saying that because there are too many monsters, your only action is make more monsters?”

I've made it through two kithbooks in as many weeks, and I'm getting hit hard by gamer nostalgia.

You're not feeling sorry for me! Feel sorry for me faster!

During my week, I have a ton of time where I don't really need 100% of my brain power. Mostly it's during my easy philosophy class or my “let's treat seminarians like 6th graders” classes (I have three to five hours per week of that!). I can't really read books and there's only so much I can secretly write during class time and still glean what information I need. And so this week I discovered the magic of pdf books, printed out ten pages at a time. I can steadily read about something interesting in between taking notes or paying attention. It's been a great way to keep my mind active all day – I think last week I spent an all-time minimum napping between classes because my mind didn't need to recoil from the sheer boring of certain parts of my day.

Naturally, Changeling kithbooks aren't exactly the most difficult reading in the world and I'm looking at other books on Drive Through RPG. For now, I'm content to read another kithbook or two, with Satyrs on tap for Monday, and maybe one of the two Hunter supplements I don't own. Mmm... Hunter. But while I was scanning through the library, I was unavoidably reminded of how badly that setting was concluded. I even took a look at the “quick start” documents for the new World of Darkness games, and I'm quite unimpressed. Changeling: The Lost has a certain degree of potential, but quite limited in comparison to its predecessor. Hunter: The Vigil is just silly and I didn't bother to look at the main settings of Mage or Vampire.

Ah well. I'm not talking about salt-in-open-wound pain here, just salt-on-scarred-tissue irritation. I still hold to my “proper” ending to WoD, while remaining determined to ignore the existence of Time of Judgment. I just wish some loose ends were properly resolved, with respect to certain Hunter characters, High King David, and a couple others here and there.

I should stop this now: I'm pretty sure I posted this exact rant (or rantling, as it's a bit short for a proper rant) five years ago.

I do have an RPG question for those loyal readers out there who made it to the final paragraph: have you heard of the Dread RPG? Here are links to the marketing blurb and a sample adventure from the main book:

http://dreadthegame.wordpress.com/about-dread-the-game/

http://www.tiltingatwindmills.net/dread/full%20moon%20intro.pdf

I bumped into it and I boosted it up to the #1 place on my list of RPGs to introduce new players to. It's one of those Jenga RPGs, but it's horror so I've got some hesitations. Anyone out there got opinions? It's $12 and I can read it piece by piece, so I'm very much willing to buy it if there's a real hope of playing at least one game of it.

Why do I do this to myself?

"don't worry, Justin, we'll just give you the hardest work!"

"careful, Paul, if that happens, you all still go down with me as a group. I've long since stopped caring about my grades."

And at that moment the rector passed us in the hall.

"I'm just kidding, just kidding!!!"

Yet one more problem to stuff in my file...

Today was a MUCH better day, complete with a descent morning of singing. Capoeira was good too, with some good tips on contortionism to work on.

One thing is an issue, though. Remember that Boggan I was talking about? Friar Pio? Yeah. I am now declaring him to have a significant Unseelie quality to him. We were in class, and we starting talking about Father Birdstall's class - that's the communication class I have. Father Birdstall, I explained with my back to the door (my Atreides training failed me!), has a "presence" about him where no one can talk. He even made the mistake of sitting at my table at lunch one day, and I couldn't even joke in his presence. I made a face for Pio too - Birdstall's stoneface. A few minutes later Pio and another classmate told me, quite seriously, that Father Birdstall was listening outside the door the WHOLE FLIRBLUBBERING TIME!!! FRAK! SMEGGING SMEG! FRIENDS DO NOT DO THIS! FRIENDS GIVE A NERVOUS GLANCE OR KICK YOU IN THE KNEES WHEN SOMEONE SIGNIFICANT IS EAVESDROPPING! DAMN IT!

So tomorrow is going to be awkward-riffic. My only hope is that Father Birdstall also heard "don't get me wrong, I really like his class" along with my implied assessment that the man has no sense of humor. Pio suggested that I should just pretend that it never happened. Obviously, I can't trust him so I should probably catch Father Birdstall alone (or in the middle of the hallway for all to see) and throw myself at his feet and beg forgiveness in between uncontrollable sobs, wails, and teeth gnashes.

P.S. The Boggan Ktihbook rocks.

Bah. I had to cantor for both morning prayer and Mass, and I made two significant blunders. You know your mistakes are bad when all eight priests snicker at you on the way out of the chapel or patronize you with "God lets us make mistakes to keep us humble". I earned it, to be sure. I sang the great amen before the final eucharistic prayer, not after. STUPID! SO STUPID!

It may be a day of much ice cream, quiet places, and kithbooks. Maybe keep working on the Sonnets. On that note, The Sonnets of William Shakespeare are WONDERFUL things to read in an empty chapel or on a balcony with some decent tobacco.

So I was chatting with Lex last night, and I mentioned that I’m starting the unofficial Boggan Kithbook today. This morning before class, Pio stopped me in the lunchroom before I got my morning coffee. Pio is the Franciscan who started staring at my chest as soon as the video said to “look at other parts of the body during an interview”. Funny guy. He just barged right up to me and pointed to my shoes – the ones from GenCon with holes in the soles from over-dancing in them.

“You! There’s something about you!”

”What? No! I’m not doing anything suspicious at all!”

”Pick up your feet!”

”What?”

-Picks up shoe-

“Look at this! This is unacceptable!”

”I have new shoes! I’m just running these to their very limit first!”

”Well you don’t have very much longer to go. I know these things, I used to be a cobbler.”

“A cobbler.”

”Yes.”

“You’re a cobbler and a friar?”

”Yeah.”

”THAT’S AWESOME!”

JUSTIN LEVELS UP!

JUSTIN GAINS X1 BOGGAN FRIENDS!

JUSTIN GAINS -1 AWKWARDNESS!

JUSTIN GAINS +1 TROLL SMUGNESS!

“It’s a very honorable trade, Pio.”

”It’s also a dying trade.”

Then we went to class, where he constantly harassed my ability to turn the lights on and off during the many videos we watched about interview skills. He is totally a Boggan through and through, and I’m taking this as a sign to start reading that book ASAP.

Quote-list for Changeling LARP: GenCon 2010

“Changelings have all the fun”

“Ok everyone, we're going to be very quiet so we don't wake up Sauron. And we need to bunk a conga line. A quiet conga line.” -Duke

“So we're having a Sluagh conga line!” -Satyr

“Da-da-da-da-da-da...hsss!!!” -Everyone

“I'm tired and my ass is sore” -Duke

“So you've been hanging out with the Satyr?” -Troll

“No one can remove this sword from the floor.” -Redcap

“Quick question: is anyone here King Arthur?” -Satyr

“My cousin's King Arthur!” -Pooka

“Then get him on the phone!” Satyr

[All Changelings are on the wall of the room watching a scene between a player and an NPC]

“You all see the redcap fighting Sauron for the ring.”

“I enchant Sauron.”

“You're too far away.”

“I entangle him!”

“You're also too far away, just let the guys fight! Anway, Sauron hits him and the redcap takes a bit of damage.”

“I stop time itself!”

“You can't stop time here.”

“I steal the ring from Sauron with Mooch!”

“SHUT UP, YOU C**TS!” -Duke

“This is why you can't have an entire freehold of Changelings standing in a line watching something important.” -Satyr

“All-powerful Tiki, we need a ring.” -Duke

“You all get teleported to some random jewelry store.” -Storyteller

“Wait, why are all the weapons being wielded by Pooka Childlings?” -Duke

“GO TEAM POOKA!”

“But we could use a flying car to get to Hogwarts.” -Sidhe

“But there are too many of us for a car.” -Duke

“We could use a bus?” -Nocker

“Or a Winnebago!” -Pooka

“A flying Winnebago will not get you to Harry Potter.” -Satyr

“House Pookas: we have chimera taking the form of cartoon mice. Get some oversized hammers and take care of the problem. And NO DYNAMITE!” -Satyr

“The Duke and the sword disappear and she appears in his place. And she seems ill.” -Storyteller

“She ate the Duke! Get the shop-vac!” -Sidhe

“Why are you here, Pooka?” -Duke

“Not to set things on fire.” -Pooka

“Fuck!” -Duke

“You all appear in what seems to be the shire.” -Storyteller

“Hobbit weed! See you in the tavern!” -Satyrs

“You get covered in water from an invisible bucket.” -Storyteller

“Gaa, my Hobbit weed! Do you have any idea how expensive imaginary weed is?!?” -Satyr

[Mages rip redcap from Dreaming]

“What the fuck did you do with my Hobbit weed?” -Redcap

[Sidhe bats bubbles from the floor]

“See? You're not a Sidhe, you're a cat pooka in disguise!”

“I'm not a Pooka, I'm just a horny sidhe!”

“...”

“...”

“Where do the bubbles come into play in that assessment?” -Satyr

“If I don't attack them, I'll attack someone else and it won't be pretty!” -Sidhe

“And so, we vampires would like to get to know you Fae people a little bit better.” -Malkavian

“Well, that's all fine and good, but the problem is that you're boring people. In fact, this sidhe here is aleady bored.” -Satyr

“YOU'RE BORING! DO SOMETHING FUN!” -Sidhe

“Here's a balloon!” -Malkavian

“THAT WAS INTERESTING EARLIER! THEREFORE IT'S BORING NOW!” -Sidhe

“It's like the ocean, but my boobs.” -Nocker

“I activate grandeur.” -Sidhe

“Ok, how do you do it?” -Storyteller

“I pull a Fabio.” -Sidhe

“What?” -Storyteller

“You know, the old 'I can't believe it's not butter' hair toss!” -Sidhe

“Watch out, or I'll snicker-snack your damn hand off!” -Pooka

“I cast enchant on the droid and scramble its programming.” -Nocker

“YES, DO IT! GIVE HIM A ROBOTAMY!” -Eshu

“You cannot defeat me!” -Storyteller (Count Dooku)

“Ha! You were defeated years ago by George Lucas!”

“You know what? Dooku's head explodes, there's no defeating that line!” -Storyteller

“My friends, give me the wand! I can take you all to the world of the Lord of the Rings for you!” -Storyteller (Harry Potter)

“What!?! I'm not giving up this wand, it's awesome!” -Pooka

[Pooka shakes wand until the party disappears]

“Aren't you worried about the world ending?” -Mage

“Nope! I've been a duke too long for that. No.” -Duke

“I'm allergic to food. I ate some rich food and I'm sick now.” -Sidhe

“I'LL MAKE YOU EAT THOSE WORDS!” -Satyr

“I'll just throw them up!” -Sidhe

“Dammit, that was my best mushroom!” -NPC

“SUCKS TO BE YOU, JUNKIE!” -Duke

“He's shoddy and smelly and hasn't shaved in a while.” -Storyteller

“HE'S A GAMER!” -Duke

“Tell me!” -Duke

“He's in agony!” -Storyteller

“I'm fine with that, actually!” -Duke

[Changelings sing the Portal song in a music contest]

“ENOUGH!” -Voldemort, as he disappears into the Dreaming

“We blinded him with science!” -Satyr

“That's pretty much the only time a Changeling can say that!” -Sidhe

“You're no match for me! You have one hand and an asama attack.” -Sidhe

“Behold Harriet Potter, Voldemort!” -Satyr

“Abracadabra!” -Nocker

“Um, the word is ______”

“My character would say the right word!” -Nocker

“No, it's better this way!” -Storyteller

“That's just a child.” -Storyteller

“She has a beard!” -Duke

“She's a Dwarven child?” -Satyr

“That would explain why she's a child with a beard, I guess.” -Duke

“It would also explain why I'm a GIRL with a beard, too.” -Pooka

“I crown you both 'awesome'.” -Duke

[cough]

[bleh]

“That's what you get for telling a Changeling what to do!” -Duke

“I told a Changeling what to do?” -Storyteller

“You told a banana what to do, and that's close enough.” -Duke

“Hey, come marching into our banality hut!” -Vampires

“Nah, I'm good.” -Duke

[redcap eats the jack of hearts' head]

“Good idea. After the wedding you will never get head again.” -Troll

“Nockers and anyone else who wants to help, we need a double-decker bus stapled to the bottom of this dragon. In the meantime, I'll be in the tavern checking out this hobbit weed I've heard so much about.” -Duke

“Ok, fine! The mage can stay for a bit. Satyr! Keep an eye on him and don't let him get into trouble.” -Duke

“Can do!” -Satyr

“Hey!” -Mage

“Hey.” -Satyr

“...”

“Wanna do a line of coke?” -Mage

“I thought you'd never ask!” -Satyr

“We're going into the city. Whatever you do, everyone touch everything! Be cool!” -Duke

“I'm NOT smoking your sword!” -Duke

[The group of Changelings see Mos Eisley]

“Uh, what a hive of scum and villainy.” -Pooka

“Hey, I think I see goat-ville from here!” -Duke

“For once, no one is paying attention to you.” -Sidhe

“Should I change that?” -Redcap

“We thank you, gods of grain alcohol, for this bounty of a passed out sidhe!” -Duke

“No Satyrs teabagging people!” -Sidhe

“Hey! Seelee court! We have standards!” -Satyr

[Other Satyr teabags a Stormtrooper]

“What did I just say about standards?” -Satyr

“None of you can exit the freehold, as can be seen by the Shaw-shaped imprint on the wall directly opposite the door.” -Storyteller

“CAN'T HEAR YOU, IN THE SMUGGLING HOLD HIDING!!!” -Duke

“The troll put you in his hole. I mean his hold.” -Storyteller

“Aren't you a little short for a stormtrooper?” -Satyr

“Aren't you a little hairy for a stormtrooper?” -Pooka

“We are now the 501st Changeling Stormtrooper batalion!” -Duke

“HUZZAH!” -Pooka

“FORSOOTH!” -Satyr

“FRAK!” -Nocker

“Fuck, I need a drink.” -Sidhe

[reaches for flask used to store a daemon]

“NOOO!!!!”

[Three people dive for flask]

“Now now... Let's not be hasty...” -Troll in LotR Ettin form

“I'm bored now.” -Sidhe

“But we're in the middle of a battle fighting for our lives...” -Satyr

[In Star Wars world]

“You enter the room and see a blond douche and a passive-aggressive princess arguing amongst themselves.” -Storyteller

“Sir, don't kiss her!” -Duke in stormtrooper form

“What are you two doing here?” -Sidhe

“WE'RE NOT HERE, WE'RE NOT HERE!” -Nocker & Pooka

“The will-o-wisp goes into the garbage chute.” -Storyteller

“Aw, FUCK ME!” -Sidhe

“We need to follow it.” -Duke

“I'm just not doing some things for you, sir!” -Sidhe

“It smells like Pookass!” -Duke

[Troll pushes sidhe into chute]

“Fuck, that felt good!” -Troll

“Everybody poops, even stormtroopers!” -Duke

“I'M A PRETTY BIRD!” -Duke, being thrown about the garbage chute

“I make wood. Strong wood.” -Troll

“I don't fear you, Vader! I've toured your facility and I've gone down your poop-chute!” -Duke

“The queen's using tip-of-the-tongue on you.” -Storyteller

“YOW, does she ever!!!” -Satyr

“And the guard is deep-throated” -Storyteller

“Hooka?” -Nocker

“It's like gluttony wrapped in sloth!” -Satyr

“We need to find the cake.” -Duke

“The cake is a truth!” -Pooka

“I eat the cape. Through the mask.” -Redcap

“A Satyr with the munchies is an acceptable substitute for a redcap.” -Pooka

“There's a three-day long ceremony.” -Storyteller (Alice in Wonderland card)

“WHAT?!?” -Redcap

“There's a three-day long ceremony.” -Storyteller

“THAT WAS A RHETORICAL QUESTION.” -Redcap

“There's a three-day long ceremony.” -Storyteller

“I eat his head.” -Redcap

[Enchanted mage snorts cocaine]

“You know what you should do? You should lick the duke and see if he tastes like Snosberries!” -Nocker

[Mage licks the duke & gets knocked out by the redcap bodyguard]

“I magically purify the mage's bloodstream of the cocaine.” -(other) mage

“The mage begins to go into withdrawal and starts to choke on his vomit.” -Storyteller

“IS ANYONE HERE A DOCTOR?” -Satyr

“...”

“I know the Heimlich maneuver!” -Pooka

[Pooka wraps arms around the mage's neck]

“No!!! That's not the maneuver!”

“I guess I teleport the vomit out of his mouth before he dies.” -(other) mage

“Man, Changeling spells suck.” -Troll

From the pages of Harry Potter and the poorly-written fanfic:

“And then Voldemort decided to give everybody cupcakes and they were delicious. Also, he showed all the Changelings where he was hiding the ring.

And then new Kirk showed up and him and Voldemort totally started kissing.

And then Voldemort had a sweet hat.

The End?”

-written by the Duke

We had a good session of Interpersonal Communications - that's my counseling class. We covered "minimal encouragement" phrases: little things to let the speaker know you're still listening. Normal ones are "ok", "go on", "yes", "so? (not sarcastic)", or any keywords the speaker uses. My contributions of "frak!" "what?" and "ha!" weren't highly recommended.

We also learned today that eye contact is good, but if you only look at the speaker's eyes, you're staring at them. So "be sure to look at other parts of the body from time to time". I sat next to Pio, one of the new Franciscans: we practiced by asking each other questions while staring at the other's chest.

"So how are things?"

"Quiet."

"How does that make you feel?"

"Quiet."

"How much uncontrollable rage does that fill you with?"

"Enough to kill a man, I suppose."

I've haven't felt this good about my skills at helping people since I stole the dentures from that retired priest.

I finished American Gods two days ago and I've been dreaming of Eoster, the goddess of fertility, with a startling consistency. I wake up quite rested, to be fair, and the daydreams don't completely cut me out of reality. The way I figure, unless I bump into a curvy blonde woman who smells of springtime, this won't become an awkward problem I'd have to acknowledge or deal with.

Ok! I've been drinking enough coffee to hear color, and I've been enjoying Starcraft II for a whole day or so after two days of computer issues directly related to the installation/operation of said program. The actual game is divine, it's just a shame its programming doesn't get along with my system.

Anyway, I have a request, o rational and dependable people of LJ. This is an email I got late last week. Please read it, and think of your likely reaction to this email before reading on. I really want an unbiased opinion here, so you get no context at the start.

Dear men of 4th floor,

It has been a great 1 1/2 week. Keep up the good work! I would like to invite each of you to make an appointment with me sometime during the semester to have coffee/tea/soda whatever is your fancy . These appointments are not formational but are a chance to get to know each other better. We can simply socialize or if you have any concerns or issues you want to discuss with me you are welcome to do that too. It is up to you what you make of this meeting. I will probably limit to one or two per week since I need some free space on my calendar for other appointments as well. I will look forward to these meetings.

Blessings,

Deacon Kevin

Ok, have you read it all? Cool. So is it just me, or is this a perfect example of pretentiousness? I've come to think of this as "Mandatory Happy Kevin Friendship Time", and the very idea revolts me. A required one-on-one social event? I have one-on-one social events with my formators and the rector Father Don. They're voluntary and infrequent, and they MATTER. Meetings with the floor Deacon do not.

I guess that I see this as further evidence (there's much more, trust me!) that Kevin is the kind of guy that's letting his authority get the better of him. That's a shame, too, because his authority is really quite minor.

This post is a serious request for outsider opinion: I've been at odds with Kevin for so long I'm no longer sure of my judgment when it comes to his actions. Does this email strike you as strange or inappropriate or am I reading too much into it?

I have this whole schedule of appropriately-timed LJ posts. All that's out of wack because of reality.

I've been in living-under-a-rock mode for a while now after a series of announcements of shitty news.

Today my mom confirmed at the hospital that's she's still 100% cancer-free. We've all been biting our nails on that one for a few days. Also, my (25-year-old) sister is now officially engaged! All happy things! I'm a tiny bit disappointed about the marriage thing because I won't get to marry them unless they delay the wedding for three and a half years. Yeah, that's not happening. Luckily, I've still got Allison, so I can still hold on to my dream of seriously looking people (read: strangers) in the eye and telling them that I married my sister. "AND MY PARENTS WERE THRILLED!" will be the response to the concerned look I'll certainly get.

Oh, and I failed a willpower check at the parish council meeting last night. Those meeting are important, but really boring. Doubly so for me, because I'm a guest and just there to observe. The final part of the session is an optional report from all the committees that don't meet every month. So here's the paraphrased meeting.

"Ok. Liturgy committee?"

"No meetings."

"Fine. How about the charity auction committee?"

"Mike and Anne are both gone."

"Right. Anything to report from the Education & school committee?"

"We're here but we haven't had a meeting yet."

"WELL THEN I GUESS THAT COMMITTEE ISN'T VERY IMPORTANT!"

-A dozen concerned stares from 50-60 year-olds thinking I'm anti-education-

"Hey, I'm going to be the guy teaching your kids in two years!"

At that point they figured out that I was joking. It was all worth that one moment of horror, though. I spent the final ten minutes of the meeting smiling at my inner Pooka.

Ok, I've got some drinking to do with my dad and brother. Then, in celebration of mom's health, I'm going to buy Starcraft II a few months ahead of schedule. And if that doesn't make sense to you, then you're a sme-he. A complete and total one, if I may say so.

Picture day has come and gone. Plan A is still in effect: longer hair year after year. Ideally, I should look like Jesus my last year. I may need a series of fake beards to gradually wear all summer of 2013. Ah well.

Good news: I had a private photo shoot at my ministry site with some of the older clients, and they got a nice shot of me juggling. I highly doubt that one will be used, but it was a good shot and I'm happy with that.

Bad news: I twisted my ankle really bad and I'm out of commission for at least all weekend. So all week sucked for exercise. I wanted to try something new and counter-cultural this weekend, but I think I'll end up just reading and staying caught up on work. That's a real pity, but I'm low on options.

I bartended for a small dinner party at the archbishop's place. He has a nice selection. However, one specific bottle caught my attention:

Naturally, I saw the bottle and thought "NO!!! MY ARCHBISHOP IS IN THE SABBAT! HE'S A GHOUL IN SERVICE TO HUMANITY-LESS VAMPIRES!"

Later on, it was said that all the alcohol was Archbishop Dolan's, our current archbishop's predecessor.

Apparently there is a full-blown bat infestation in the building. I think the kill roster has reached about 6 or 7. I only participated in one, so at least I know that patrols continue without my supervision.

Finally, things you shouldn't say in a seminary:

"Cracker?"

"Yes, you are."

"Well, Archbishop, you need to bring us over for a drink sometime and work on Archbishop Dolan's booze. That Sabbat bottle is just something I've got to try!"

"That's the one bottle that's mine!"

"Oh! (In my head: Don't tell the archbishop he's a vampire or ghoul)"

"You really won't like it. It tastes like engine de-greaser."

"Oh, now I'm even more curious!"

"Well, fine then! Stop over sometime and you can have a glass."

"Yeah, I've been growing up lately. I need to stop believing in things just because I want them to be true."

"Oh no! Like what?"

"Just because I wake up confused and naked outside every month or so doesn't mean I'm a werewolf."

I had a fire dance with Tanya today. It was a paid gig - my share was $25, and I consumed about $5 in lantern fuel and maybe $10 in gasoline. But it's the principle of the thing: now I'm a professional dancer and Tanya told me that I have her approval to associate myself with Mystic Embers. This kicks ass. This means that, at least in a strict sense of the word, I am now a professional dancer. I LOVE the fact that I can say that sincerely. You know what I did as soon as that became reality? I had a drink and then joined a soul train. Our fire dance was for a 70's disco party held by a bunch of African Americans. So that soul train was me, Alexis, and like 30 strangers. It was scary but fun, and I thought to myself "I'm a professional dancer, I can handle a soul train!" before doing the clock (a simple but flashy breakdance move) and some swing moves when my turn came. It was awesome.

Getting back to the fire dance, I also tried a risky move, involving me tossing my poi up in the air. I did it roughly nine times in the space of a 15 minute performance, and I didn't miss a single one. This is an excellent sign! I'm so happy I made the time for this event!

JUSTIN GAINED: FIRE DANCE STREET CRED!

JUSTIN GAINED: FIRE DANCE TECHNIQUE- FIRE TOSS!

JUSTIN GAINED 25 GP!

After that, I hurried to West Allis for Steff's birthday party. It was fun with lots of sexual innuendo and girly alcohol. There was fun conversation and good religion. The religion was so good, in fact, that I have a homework assignment for tomorrow or Monday.

So, all-in-all, today was pretty smegging good, apart from lunch where I dropped like $20 worth of cheese on the floor in the fridge due to a faulty tupperware lid. Tomorrow I'll wrap up my homework and rest for a bit.

Ok! All is well, and Operation: Pooka Prowler, August 2010 was a complete success! By success, I refer to flawless execution, a good reaction by nearly everyone on the floor, and a bitchy slap-on-the-wrist by a minor authority figure.

So: execution. Against the advice of yesterday’s post, I chose to go with plan A and hang the head near someone’s door. I chose a new guy by the name of Peter Patrick from Kenya because he hasn’t been pranked and has a sense of humor. I set my alarm for 3:30 am, and my body automatically went into full Pooka mode and I woke up on my own around 2:15 am. I had to gradually come back to reality, though. I still thought I was trapped in the mental hospital from One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. That’s a creepy movie, all things considered.

Anyway, I snuck outside, stacked a chair on top of a table in front of his door, and tied some Christmas present ribbon (the strongest cord I had in my room) around a ceiling panel support. Then I went back in and got the head, already tied to a string. The tricky part was the fact that the head was heavy and greasy, making it difficult to tie one string to the other. So what I did was shove the head in my pants to give the string a little bit of slack. I am SO HAPPY that I didn’t get caught right at that second! I would NEVER be able to talk my way out of that one!

With the head properly attached, I thumbtacked the Friday driver’s schedule onto the head. That makes it a messenger pig!

Anyway, the next morning, a few seconds before I left my room for chapel, I overhead a couple guys laughing out in the hall with Peter Patrick. They thought it was hilarious! Peter Patrick was all smiles to the phrase “BUT WHY IS IT OUTSIDE MY DOOR?!?”

I went and set up for Mass as usual. Then the presider priest – one source of Banality – said that Deacon Kevin (the OTHER source of Banality) would have a short announcement after Mass. His bitching went essentially to the tune of:

”To whoever thought it would be funny to put a pig head in the 4th floor hall last night, I ask that you go up, cut it down, and throw it away in the dumpster outside because we don’t want it to stink up the whole floor. I won’t ask who did it, but I don’t want it to be seen as acceptable to hang animal carcasses inside the seminary.”

As his concern for a stinky floor was justified, I did indeed go up right away and cut the head down. Obviously, I’m not throwing it away. I’m not sure how I can get the flesh off, but I’m going to at least try to save the skull for Briar. For a minute, I thought of throwing the head in Kevin’s room with a note of “FUCK YOU” attached to it. Deeming that too risky, I’ve decided to simply prank Kevin next. As he apparently doesn’t like animal carcasses in the building, I think I’m going to plaster his whole room, or perhaps just his bed, with as much leftover bacon as I can get my hands on. I’ll need to wait for a few weeks, just in case it matters. But I told the other deacon and a few others that the very fact that Kevin was pissed at the head makes it all the funnier. Everyone agreed wholeheartedly. So now I’m in class with a rotting pig’s head in my backpack and not sure what exactly to do with it. Meh. I’ll think of something.

It feels good to be fully Pooka every once in a while. Oh! And while brainstorming who to prank, I realized that my housekeeping key opens up the door to the rector’s office. This is perfect cardboard cutout material! Debbie, his secretary, would practically walk into one when she opens the door in the morning. I’ll put that one on the back burner…

My apologies for the lack of photos. I have three to post, but something’s not working correctly. I’ll add em later.

The head, in all its piggy doom!

The finished product.

Peter Patrick, the next morning.

We had a special dinner tonight at Sacred Heart with the whole community. Among other foods, there was a whole pig. After talking with some of the older guys, the gears started turning in my mind.

THE FOLLOWING DIOLOGUE IS ABSOLUTELY WORD-FOR-WORD NON-FICTION:

“Hey Barbara!”

“Hey Justin.”

“Great job, tonight! I especially enjoyed the bean salad... by-the-by do you have any particular use for the pig's head?”

“Not at all! By all means take it! I'll put it in the freezer for you for tomorrow!”

Now I've gots me a pig's head and a whole building of men who don't lock their rooms. I currently have two low-effort ideas:

1. Put the head in a large covered pot with some water. Put it on Father Don's stovetop with a note offering him a free dinner.

2. Hang the head on string right in front of someone's door during the night.

For the record, I did consider hiding it in someone's bed, but that would be messy and therefore mean and therefore not funny. If anyone has a better idea, you've got 21 hours to submit a prank. I must be something I pull off between Thursday afternoon and Friday morning at the latest.

So I got my training parish assigned and I had some warm welcomes last night and this morning. It's Saint Francis Borgia in Cedarburg. I know the associate pastor and the pastor seemed pretty cool when I met him last semester. Apparently Saint Borgia is significant because that Italian family was very powerful and political and really liked to poison people. So if the cross was plain and boring, I probably would have begun to think of the place as Saint Ventrue parish: because one in twenty Ventrues won't kill your family while you watch while waiting for your portion of the poison to reach your bloodstream. But luckily for me and the people who have to work with me, that's not the case.

See, part of the style of the church is a luminous halo superimposed on the cross. Naturally, I refused to look at this and think of anything besides Exalted.

“Welcome to Church of the Catholic Dawn Caste! Oh, hello Bull of the North! What's that? Your Dawn caste-mark only has eight points? What, are you a wheelchair-bound blind newborn hairless kitten?!? Come back when you level up a bit!”

Also, the lightswitch panel amused me. You know what happens when the congregation doesn't donate enough during the collection? We release the zombies! Luckily we have that mausoleum underneath the church. Also, I have no idea what a “metal halide” is, but our cantor must be a cyborg because we can turn her on and off at will.

Bah. I lost an entire layer of skin on the top of my head today and it looked like I had a terminal case of dandruff. People who like reality would say it was due to 18 holes of golf in direct sunlight right after I shaved my head.

I know better: Lex and the others scritched my head too much and I had an alergic reaction. Obviously. Yes.

"So Justin, how's the semester looking? You're taking 12 credits, right?"

"Um, I'm taking 16."

"Wow! That'll keep you off the street!"

Yeah. Father Don was impressed with the work load I volunteered for. And a little reassured that I'm off the street and not selling drugs like I apparently was last year.

So my course schedule is busy but fair. Thankfully, my greatest fear was avoided: no night classes. I don't think the professors really understand how inconvenient those bloody things really are.

So like my junior year in college, Mondays are hell and every day after is a little bit easier. Monday is a full day ending with 75 minutes of face time with a priest who almost certainly hates me slightly more than he hates being here at Saint Francis. But unlike last year, at least I don't have to deal with him one-on-one.

Friday's only got two classes ending at 2:00 pm, which will be nice. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday will be manageable.

I also need to put in four hours a week at my training parish, and I don't know if Mass counts as one of those hours. As the church is a 45 minute drive from me, I'm going to try to get everything in on a Sunday. I know they want me to teach a CCD class with the kids, so that's a good start. If I can find some other activity that eats up another hour, I'll be in good shape. They sound nice there, and the two priests are cool and sort of know me. That's a good start.

Course listing:

Catechetics & Evangelization

Intermediate Spanish

Fundamental Moral Theology

Logic (That was a joke, ha ha, fat chance)

Philosophical Anthropology

Parish as Teacher (aka how to not get lynched by your own congregation)

Interpersonal Communication Skills

Grumble. Unfun post.

I told the Madison people* about capoeira issues. I've been thinking about matters for several months now, and I think I'm at the point where I've all but made my decision.

So the short version of the problem: I belong to capoeira Batuque. I have more fun at capoeira Nago. I have friends in Nago. I can make Nago classes but very few Batuque classes. I can't belong to both groups. I really like Batuque's professor. I promised, upon joining Batuque, that I wouldn't leave it for other groups and I'm bound by duty to the group.

I talked with Professor Wayne last Thursday and touched on some of the issues I'm having with the group. I told him about how wonderful the Madison open roda was and how much I wanted to train with more people than two other students plus the professor. At the end of the lesson, Professor Wayne said that he wouldn't mind a break for a while, because the rest of his life is pretty busy and doesn't have enough students to do capoeira full time these days.

Then, at the very end, as he was getting ready to leave for evening, I asked about this year's batizado, where we get new cords reflecting our new skill levels. I don't get one. Like, for the next five years, in all likelihood. Capoeira Batuque is located in LA, with tiny cells scattered around the country, Brazil, and Japan. We're the only chapter in the midwest, so the only way I can have a batizado is to go to LA. I can't afford that and won't be able to afford that at least until 2015. What this means is that, due to my financial situation, my hard work will not be recognized by anyone until I have about $500 to burn. That is true for every year that passes with me in Wisconsin. Living in LA is the only cheap way to progress in the group. Capoeira Nago's batizado is about $100 with no travel involved – I can handle that.

So here's the long and short of it: I feel terrible about these feelings of disloyalty to Batuque, but it feels like the group has abandoned me first. My desire to leave for another group isn't random: my fellow students are mean and uninterested in a capoeira community, unlike Nago. They aren't able to move classes to a time I can attend them, there are no special events anymore, the classes are more expensive, and I don't even get to be acknowledged as anything other than a fresh beginner to the art. Where's the community I thought I was joining two years ago? I'm going to continue training with Batuque for the summer as normal. At the beginning of either the fall or spring semester, I'm going to take a break from Batuque. I'll formally join Nago next May or June, unless something changes.

*Madison people: Arabian & Lex. No one else in Madison has kicked me in the face, so they don't qualify as people.

This is a sad and ugly post. I conclude with silliness. I can't agree with this rule, but that didn't stop me from laughing at this a bit too hard the first time (and second time) I saw it.

Two quick questions I really don't want on facebook:

I'm thinking of giving Dr. Who another chance. Is the 2005 "Dr. Who Season 1" as good a starting point as any?

Secondly, I'm finished cutting out my fabric for my shirt. The next official step is "staystitching": that step doesn't seem to be terribly consistent with other books/videos. Is this truly important, or can I just move on to basting/sewing?

Memorial day with the Franciscans. Fun times, but I had yet another blunder with Bishop Callahan. I was trying so hard not to talk too much. Considering the fact that I randomly re-read Witchblade, that was easier said than done. But then Paul asked me a direct question:

"So Justin, got any nifty plans for the summer?"

"Yeah, family stuff, plus my nerd convention in August."

"Nerd convention?" -Bishop Callahan

"It's Gencon, a gaming convention."

"What kind of gaming?"

"You know, board games, card games, role-playing games, and various strategy games."

"What kind of role-playing games?"

"Well, Dungeons & Dragons is the big one, but I won't be playing any of that. I'll actually be busy with some panels on faith & gaming."

That last part was lost in the hubbub of my spiritual director and the bishop condemning D&D. I desperately tried to change the subject

"YOU KNOW I HAVE THE PRIEST GAME IN MY CAR RIGHT NOW! HA HA HA! IT'S FOR 8-YEAR-OLDS SO I DON'T WANT TO PLAY AND LOSE. HA HA! EVERYONE BE DISTRACTED BY THE CHANGE OF TOPIC!"

Grumble. I really don't want to deal with this. I was hoping to hide this part of my life a bit better. Stupid compulsion to honestly answer direct questions... Stupid Troll blood overcoming Pooka values...

In other funner news, I was promoted today! I'm now officially the clock winder guy for the building. Pictures later. It's pretty cool: every week I have to unlock, wind, and set the three grandfather clocks in the building. This also makes me a keymaster in my own tiny way. This fills me with glee, even though things rarely go well for the keymaster: often involving being turned into a supernatural dog or simply getting turned down by Sigorney Weaver.

I ask because I know she reads my LJ out loud to people when it's potentially embarrassing. I might as make her work for it.

Madison weekend! Things went well!

The official reason for the visit was an open roda, which was way better than Milwaukee rodas. I played to the best of my ability and had some good games in between screw-ups. Arabian & Lex are quite good and I'm secretly quite envious of their abilities. I feel like Milwaukee is on the edge of being conquered by Madison capoeira people as soon as they learn to drive or teleport over here.

Best part of that day, though: some random capoeira person talked to me:

"I'm a (something) vampire!"

"That's ok, because that's not an undead vampire. But seriously, tell me if you're undead. I'll need to... get something from my trunk..."

"Justin's talking about something like flamethrower to slay you with, by the way."

"Oh yeah? Why don't you just pull it out of your bag of many things?"

AND I DID! My practice poi were in my bag and I was able to do a 30-second poi spinning dance for people. Good times. I love it when things work out like that.

Other stuff:

-No Noelle due to open roda business. Coming back in a month. Noelle first, Mirkwood second. Feel terrible about this time.

-Drank a bunch of tea.

-People honor me by wearing clothes. Promised a fruit basket for next month's visit. The gift is partially dependent continued honor. Thinking of meeting Mirkwood residents halfway and wearing the kilt. No pants = compromise.

-Slept in a cave. Nothing short of inspiring. I'd do that in my room's closet, but I need the hangar space.

-MN people are nice.

-Blue fire is too difficult to maintain. Waaaayyyy back in 2002 I found colored fire specifically for poi, I think it was a tad expensive. Maybe get that stuff next time for colored fire. Till then fire's fire's fire.

-The Shilling was an appropriate fairy tale for Mirkwood, but needed more tobacco.

-Lex likes my nails.

-Grandpa Glitterkilt's House of Discount Tension Sheets is doing well, if completely bankrupt.

-I get up and take two naps before Lex is awake and prepared to leave the house. This amuses me!

-Zim and Lex approve of my capoeira-compatible alb for church.

-Finished cutting out the pattern for a new shirt. Step two: get to a store for pins. Then it's fabric cutting time.

-Failed to find milkweed. No butterfly eggs for me. Need to call grandma for advice.

I'm in another one of my isolation bubbles. I've been waiting on information from like three people and none of them have responded in any way. The one about fire can wait and the one regarding my car leaves me fairly powerless without the required news. But the Madison trip this Saturday! I can control that to a degree!

Briar and I will arrive sometime in the morning. I'm assuming the roda is at noon, even though I don't actually know that.

Noelle! THIS IS ME SHOUTING THROUGH THE INTERNET AT YOU! I WANT TO VISIT YOU! I'M NOT SURE HOW THAT WIL WORK!

The other thing is the extended agenda: oodles to do. These are the mandatory things:

1. Capoeira roda of awesome +3. I may not be welcome. Hopefully that won't be a problem.

2. Fabric shop. I need a pattern for my first sewing project and I want other people's help if possible.

Optional things:

1. Pipe smoking, ideally done on the porch while telling the residents of Mirkwood a story.

2. Fire dancing. I now drive everywhere with my poi spinning equipment, now that I'm a semi-professional and only 75 exp away from leveling up to professional. The business cards will be worth 50 exp, and Irishfest or Summerfest will be worth about 5000 apiece. I will have normal stupid normal fire in case the following doesn't happen. Today, I just bought citronella candle fuel that burns other colors (mine's blue, but green and purple are available for later). I don't know if it will work, or work well, but the bottle was like $2.00. Totally worth a scientific experiment!

Ordinations were today! Four new priests! Good times.

My job: usher/hospitality specialist (second class) focusing on concelebrating priests, non-concelebrating priests, deacons, and seminarians. Plus keeping the general public out of those places.

"So I'm like a sheepdog! For priests!"

"A priestdog?"

"YES!"

"God help us all."

Today was the first day of the summer session: 5 weeks of philosophy.

My afternoon class is pretty cool: Natural theology, aka the philosophy of religion. A civilized amount of reading (mostly St. Thomas), 3 students, a cool teacher, two days totally off, and I'll get to slack during week three due to the same arguments covered last semester. All good things.

My morning class? Not so cool. Epistemology: the study of knowledge & truth.

Good things: great professor, I'm the only student, & we're only going to meet 3 days a week.

Bad things: extremely difficult & thick reading, two papers per week, can't ever skip reading assignments because I'm THE ONLY STUDENT TO ASK QUESTIONS TO, and no substantial variation in the covered material.

I sort of wish he came out and said it straight:

"Welcome to the summer session. What are you going to do during the next month? LEARN EVERYTHING THERE IS TO KNOW ABOUT ALL HUMAN KNOWLEDGE AND PERCEPTION! ALONE! BWA HA HA!"

It really does belong right after #37: "Learn Portuguese" on my daily goal list.

Ok, I can now finally explain myself and run of cryptic posts!

This weekend was Capoeira Nago's batizado: the group that I don't really belong to but train with when I can. Last year there was firedancing, and I promised to take part next time. Fast forward ten months. In early February I paid for the batizado despite having no income. My condition was to have my firedance and it was approved by Sapo – the leader of the Milwaukee Nago group. About a month before that a girl by the name of Steff approached me requesting lessons. In March she came to the seminary and we had an initial lesson in the gym. She learned fast and quickly surpassed me in most ways. I do butterflies better than her, and that's about it! I think it's hilarious that because YouTube didn't exist when I started learning, I haven't progressed as far. Now I've got a ton of things to work on, and my style and technique have never been better! Having someone to work with and having someone to push you on to greater achievements works wonders, it really does.

So that's all the happy stuff which reality left alone. Steff and I trained alone for the rest of March and started meeting every Thursday evening at the lakefront after my Capoeira Batuque classes. Two weeks before the performance we had music and a choreographed dance number, which is apparently rare due to the “lone wolf” nature of most firedancers. We were ready to rock. Then the drama hit.

To properly understand the drama, I need to repeat some very brief history of Capoiera Nago. See, I love Capoeira Nago. I secretly hope Batuque stops training so I can join Nago without being evil and breaking my vow to be Batuque. The reason I love Nago is because they're a community. Batuque, pound for pound, has better lessons and I learn more. I love our mestres and our training priorities. But I don't really “like” my fellow players. Too many of them are jerks and the others are very young and I can't really interact with them outside of class. We're also small. Nago is roughly four times the size and most of them are sort of my age, or at least proper adults. I went with some to the anime convention, they read web-comics and play video games and other things I can relate to. So I'm stuck between my dutiful loyalty to Batuque and my quasi-preference to Nago. I like to say that I'm a capoeira ambassador, but I doubt Batuque professors would see it that way. My only real logical defense is that I'm physically unable to attend any Batuque classes because they meet at 6:00. Nago meets at 8:00 and I can go after evening prayer & dinner.

So I am an outsider to Nago, and that makes me something of a diplomat when dealing with other people. There's a relatively higher cord by the name of Arturo. I don't like Arturo because he's mean. Very mean and condescending to most people. I'm certain that most people don't care for his company. I personally don't have any problem with Steff, but she has caused problems in Nago in the past. For one, she openly called the professor (Sapo) an asshole in the middle of practice. Even when that's true, it's JUST NOT SOMETHING YOU SAY. I have scattered reports of Steff-fueled drama from a number of sources, but because I'm not Nago I've never actually been part of the situation. Also, Arturo and Steff do not care for each other at all in the slightest bit.

Two weeks before the show, Sapo emailed me and said that we'd have four firedancers and that Arturo would be organizing the show. This was bad. Having a mean person who doesn't like me and likes my dance partner even less is a bad sign indeed. Thus began my two-week marathon of diplomacy mode. Every single day for two weeks I was the hub of information between four firedancers, Sapo, and Arturo, and I did my very best to keep everyone happy. And by “everyone happy”, I mean “everyone not murdered by everyone else”. Steff vented at me about Arturo every phone call, Arturo fished for signs of incompetence on Steff's part, and Sapo just tried to do as little as possible to keep the drama from coming back on him. It was not a fun experience for me: it reminded me a lot of BSFFA politics, actually.

On the whole, though, it worked out. I spent most of the time resisting Arturo and calming Steff because Arturo was being very arrogant about organizing the party, which he did a crappy job of in the end, by the way.

See, Arturo immediately lost my support during our first phone call. He said that he'd seen the other two firedancers (Miranda and Tanya) and knew they were professional. He implied that Steff and I had to earn out place in the show: a place I was guaranteed three months ago. Naturally, I was pretty offended. I vouched for Steff's dedication, explained that I'd been doing this for 8 years on two continents, and that we were ready. He still didn't accept it. Those two professionals? They both cancelled. Tanya canceled THE DAY OF THE PERFORMANCE without explanation or warning. That, to me, is the opposite of professional. Steff and I proved ourselves through action. At least now we can point to this weekend as an example of our reliability.

The following is an example of what I had to put up with from him. Notice my diplomacy and his attempt to get a testimony out of me against Steff:

Email 1:

Arturo,

    Here's the link for our video of Steff, taken with a digital camera.  It was 3 mb too big for gmail to send, so I put it up on youtube.  There isn't much to hear between the lack of music and wind.

-Justin

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRzRBX1-P9s

 

 Email 2:

Justin,

 

Thanks for that. Would still like to see choreography. Please advise.

 

-Arturo

 

 Email 3:

Hmm...  So you'll need to see Steff and I together at night with fire & music.  Well, that's not going to happen tonight or tomorrow.  I'm going to go to class as usual tomorrow night and hopefully Steff will be feeling better and make it.  I talked to her tonight and we'd like to go through the routine with fire & music Thursday night after the workshop.  That will be the final opprotunity to practice the "full effect".  After Thursday night we could do the choeography without fire anytime anyplace or with fire during the day.

 

Let's give Steff 24 hours to recover and decide on the final practice time tomorrow night at Neutral Grounds (or right after).

 

 Email 4:

Ok.

 

The idea is for you to open for Miranda and Tanya, correct?

 

 Email 5:

We'd actually think it would be better to finish up the firedance stuff, but we can go first just as easily.

 

 Email 6:

You would be opening for them if all goes well.

 

Did Steff tell you that Sapo said it was fine for her to perform, or did she just approach you?

 

 Email 7:

When I paid my $150, Sapo and I agreed on a firedance I told him that Steff would be taking lessons from me in the near future with the intention of performing with me.  I don't precisely recall when it became solid fact, but Sapo's known about Steff's firedancing for a while as far as I'm aware.  When I gave him the cash back in February, we actually talked about Steff, Miranda, and I forming a formal troupe.  That was before Miranda moved away, so that whole train of thought got derailed at about that point.

 

That's the way I remember it unfolding, anyway.  Hopefully see you tomorrow, we can talk more then.

 

 Email 8:

Wow,ok.

 

All good. See you soon. My toe is still sprained. I may not make it to class.

 

-Arturo

PS: The $150 was the batizado fee, right?

**************************

In the end, I was asked “so do you want to just quit and not do the firedance?” about a dozen times. For all the people who couldn't be relied on, I stood fast and didn't put up with any of that crap. You know all those organizers? They were doing me a favor by planning/helping with the event – they didn't have actual authority over my show. If they couldn't plan the show properly, I'd just do it myself. Eventually that's exactly what happened. I got the supplies. I trained and taught Steff. I moved the couches out of the way for the dance space. I explained the situation to the club manager and the needs to the DJ. Fuck the easy way out and the lazy solution. It's a shame I couldn't count on more people to help me, but that's a luxury and not a necessity.

So to end on a high note, the show went off without a hitch in spite of all our obstacles. We were awesome and sexy and did a bit of improtu dancing because of the canceled performers. We're going to try to perform at Irishfest and/or Summerfest next. More on that later. I'm hoping someone will forward me pictures or video of the dances.

For now, I'm going to relax a bit and focus on classes because during this weekend

THE GOOD GUYS WON, THE BAD GUYS LOST, THE AWESOME PEOPLE BREAKDANCED AND THAT'S ALL THERE IS TO IT.

This is it! Totally my most official firedance yet! We've got choreographized dancing (with extra choreo!), possible silver body paint, stuff, fire, and more stuff.

Wish me luck, a lot's riding on tonight!

It's one of those months. No less than four guys told me I looked hot, complete with one "I'd f**k you."

I did pretty good at samba tonight, though. So that's sort of like a point for heterosexuality, right? Right?

Life is crazy this week.

Huff... Huff...

I had better level up in diplomacy by the time this weekend is over.

I still don't want to explain everything just yet, the facts aren't all in. But in my last post I mentioned to Lex that the scalpel was cold iron. By that I meant that my second poi made of bike chain and gym socks were unusable on account of them being fire hazards. In the African desert little flakes of flaming cotton aren't really that big of a deal. An inside performance with a huge crowd is a different story. It took me forever to test the poi because things kept coming up. Last night I was nervous about that, so I made my will save and did a "stealth firedance" on seminary property. I went behind the garages on the far northwest corner to minimize onlookers from the window (the northside is emptier than the south) around 11:00. I sort of feel dirty for doing that, but it was a question of obligation.

When I realized that I needed new poi in 3 business days, I went online and realized that American poi manufacturers are mainly located on the west coast and most (all?) of them are taking part in a regional convention called Fire Drum. This morning I finally got through to someone and I've arranged a rush delivery of fire poi heads (that don't need to be manufactured like the chains). So I can manage my dance on Saturday without burning my audience alive. Next week I'll look into getting the chains to go with the heads, and I was quite impressed with a set of training poi for $35. What better way to celebrate a firedance than more firedance stuff I can't really afford?

Tomorrow afternoon I get to drive the Archbishop to an event. Hello status! Maybe this'll make up for that one time with the remark and the awkwardness and the nervous laughter...

Ooo! Almost forgot a good conversation after I bought my poi heads. I wanted to tell Debbie to watch for my package because it's important and stuff. Chris, Carol, and Sandy were talking with Debbie in her office.

"So please watch out for that package. I know this might sound like something I'd say often, but I don't: if I don't get this package by Friday, the Bad Guys win."

That sentence was poorly worded. All four of them stared at me as if they were thinking:

"What's in the package? The antidote? A bomb-defusing kit?"

Bear in mind that I don't really want a lot of people to know about the firedancing stuff I do. Not just yet.

"Let me back up. I'm in a performance on Saturday and there's a mean guy who has the power to make me miserable. A vital piece of equipment isn't working and I just bought the replacement. So if I don't get it, I'm in trouble, my partner's in bigger trouble..."

"And the mean guy gets to gloat over you."

"Exactly."

"Don't worry about it, we'll keep an eye out."

I'm pretty sure I excessively confused them all, but I think they understood where my worry was coming from. Everyone has in their life someone mean who wants them to fail. A very common situation to empathize with.

You know what a bad combo is?

1. Other people drama

2. Total lack of authority

3. Time constraints

4. The above three appearing out of the blue with no warning

Full post later when all the facts come in. For now, Saturday's firedance is on the operating table and the surgeon's an alcoholic. Continuing this metaphor, I would be an intern or perhaps a male nurse watching from the observation room pounding on the soundproof glass hoping someone important will see my frantic flailing and realize that something is wrong.

Ok, I’ve got a little bit of time to spare before I begin my final paper this weekend:

Major news #1:

Firedancing goes well. Steff was late to our practice last night, which left me alone on the lakefront for 45 minutes with nothing to do but practice. It helped, it really helped. Due to the cold and the strong wind, we opted to skip the actual fire and just traded moves and ideas. So far, we’ve got some choreographed moves planned out, and “showstopper” moves we’ll let each other have to themselves. I’m hoping for a chain toss and maybe a slow rotation, and Steff’s got a very cool set of weaves while she’s down in a slanted position where she’s supporting herself on her ankle and one hand and spinning with the other. She’s also got a spin-to-body-wrap. Basically, it’s the west coast move “spinny-spinny-spin-move-of-sexiness” WITH FIRE. I’m so proud of her. I’ll copy it at later dances, but it’s all her this time. In general, I’m working on reversals, and I’m getting better with whole-body rotations during weaves. They’re cool transitory moves. Oh, and it’s confirmed, I do in fact know the three-beat weave now. I’ve also got a lineup of basic moves I’ll need to take my dancing to the next level: reversal motions, and behind-the-head and behind-the-back butterflies. But those won’t be ready by May 8th.

In short, we’re looking good! The next step is to decide on the music and start specific choreography.

Major news #2:

I had my end-of-the-year evaluation this week. All-in-all, it was fine and I’m certainly going to continue on next year for Theology 1. That said, the evaluation was more negative than I’d hoped. Some of my teachers labeled me “immature” and “socially awkward” which are probably true, but hurt coming from my teachers. I’ll need to watch my attitude in class a bit better next year, I guess.

As for the actual priests, they’re not terribly happy with my failure to completely conform to the seminary lifestyle. Although it’s been a problem since my first week here, I need to continue to look for commonalities between more of my fellows and avoid my behavioral tendency to withdraw into the solitude of my unique interests. So in other words, I’m still a Wilder in a human organization and my disguise isn’t as foolproof as I’d like it to be. I can live with that.

Finally, no joke, I celebrated my evaluation by head-butting a priest.

“So well done Justin, we look forward to your presence with us next year and keep up the good work!” (Father Bill shakes my hand)

“Congrats Justin.” (Father David shakes my hand and gives me a hug)

“Good job Justin.” (Father Steve gives me a hug and our heads bonk each other)

“Oww!”

”Sorry, sorry! That was your fault, Father Steve!”

“Good job, Justin.”

“Thank you, Father Don. I’m going to just shake your hand so I don’t head-butt you too.”

“And thank you for that as well!”

I head-butted a priest after receiving approval. Who the hell else can say that?!?

Minor news:

I can now smoke a whole pipe of tobacco using only one match. I take this as a sign that I have indeed leveled up in “pipe”, as the tobacco can go out quite easily, requiring a re-lighting.

Tomorrow, before my sister’s First Holy Communion, the seminary’s going paintballing. I intend to film it, especially me shooting priests in the back. Good times ahead! No kilt this time though. I’ll save that for next year, perhaps.

Another seminarian ripped his pants on a sharp corner the other day and I’m going to try mending them when I have a free minute. I think it’s pretty cool that my sewing skills have gone from “pathetic” to “not-so-pathetic” to “mostly-pathetic-but-borderline-useful”. I still don’t have word on my Madison visit on the 28th, but I’m hoping to go with people to a fabric store for my first real sewing project. There’s actually quite a lot I want to do that weekend, but planning for it’s been pretty slow-going. But I’ve got a picture of Father Anderson near my mirror, constantly reminding me that I need to get his costume done by next April. Ideally, it would be cool to finish his longcoat before winter so I could actually get some real use out of it.

I’m replaying Knights of the Old Republic 2. Along with my firedancing with Steff, I’ve got a Jedi vs Sith philosophic post coming up. If I can make Alex or Nathan cough up blood it’ll be a good post.

I'm very scatterbrained in my classes today: my head is full of existentialists and acrobats. All day people have been telling me that it's not that bad of a combination, but it really is wrecking havoc on my ability to concentrate on anything.

I think I've got the three-beat weave down. At this point I'm pretty paranoid about it because I've been wrong before. But the poi are certainly going around three times: two on one side and one on the other. I'm pretty sure that means it's correct. Steff and I have another practice on Thursday, she can verify it or shoot it down then, but I'm feeling pretty good about it: it's different from a 2-beat weave. I really wish I had more confidence about this. Stupid existentialism, criticizing my objective reality & sense of truth in favor of purposeless subjectivism...

I woke up today, and immediately worked on my 3 beat weave. Then I had to be an altar server at Mass. I hope none of the priests on the other side of the altar saw my hands rotating around each other while I was "listening" to the readings or prayers...

Bleh. Don't want to type more. But that's stupid because my tests are due at the end of this week or early next week.

I sort of think I've got the 3-beat weave down. To quote a funny-looking alien: "control, control, you must learn control." Like my behind-the-back butterflies when I was first learning, I seem to have trouble with the aim of my left hand. Curse my right-handedness! Curse my lack of ambidexterity! Basically, I can do a 2-beat weave in my sleep and I can go into a 3-beat weave for about two rotations. Then my left poi either lightly brushes the side of my head or smashes into my crotch at full throttle. If you have to limp away, you're probably firedancing incorrectly.

Still, I think it's coming along. We're going to start actual choreography next weekend in all likelihood.

I can't wait for tomorrow night: I'm positively itching to get back on the trampoline at Turner's and get some frontflips in. I think I know what how to do them better. Hopefully this is a case where my imagination and mind's eye correspond with reality.

Um... Mow? It feels like I should have something more to say... Like I'm forgetting something. Ah well.

Yeah, it sums it all up. It amuses me, but then I end up in a dark basement drinking and contemplating existentialism.

I had an awesome lesson yesterday. I saw Steff and my last post was indeed a lie. I still don't have the triple weave down: I learned the double weave and got it quite pretty. A triple weave has a time displacement: one arm makes two rotations while the other makes only one. Then they both make one (I think) and then the same thing happens on the other side. Needs work, but I'm nevertheless getting closer. Ideally we'll practice at length on Thursday, possibly with fire.

But I did rather well at teh acrobatics class. Top of the list: I did some correct frontflips on the trampoline! Sure, I only managed to land 1 in 20 correctly, but it's still an improvement! I still need to bend my spine better, as my forward walkovers are as pathetic as ever - made even more frustrating by the fact that I can do them from a headstand position as opposed to a handstand position.

Lastly, I did really well in the roda. I'm starting to be known as a fun guy to play against because I don't mind minor injuries and welcome the occasional flashy move. As I got to bed last night, I was amused that I've sort of accepted my fate as someone who invites injury weekly. When I first started, I would have considered such soreness or bruising as issue. Now I sleep off some sort of injury every week, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Time for class now, not that I actually have the willpower to pay attention. I'm really looking forward to this evening after dinner when I can actually relax for more than an hour.

Ooo! Madison Red Dwarf fans: I'm preparing something for my next visit. I can't say what it is right now, but I'm going to be a complete and total crypto-fascist. In a good way.

Sarah still gets points for the tin foil poi copyright. I think I made a breakthrough today.

Steff had her firedance on the beach, and she was way better than me in a lot of ways. As such, I've been working to close some gaps in my technique. I've got the reverse butterflies down, and today I randomly got the triple weave down! That is, I think I got the triple weave. I am large youtubeless these days what with school computers without proper flash programs. But either way, I've got some major improvement under my belt today.

I feel as awesome as a circus troupe of squirrels juggling knives for the amusement of nuns with much too much sugar and/or caffeine in their systems. Yeah. That's how I feel. Naturally, those squirrels would be performing out of charity. You just can't charge nuns for basic entertainment these days, you know.

It is time! Steff is ready to graduate from Troll Justin's minimalist school of fire dancing! I'm going to capoeira now, and we're meeting on the lakefront at 8:00 for a little practice. Then we're going to start coordinating some moves for the performance May 8th!

Wish her luck!

Woo! All set for GenCon. Cut & paste didn't work out, here's the brief outline:

Thursday: Drive to Indie in time for Whitewolf LARP Thurs 7:00 pm. I'll be fighting for a Changeling character.

Friday: At 10:00 am I've got a Changeling tabletop game that runs parallel with Thursday's LARP.

2:00 is a Christianity + Gaming panel. At 5:00 is a Faith in Gaming panel. They sound interesting, and I'll be quick to bring these events up in case some of the faculty here get uppity ideas about me going to this con. I'll wrap up the day with a Courting Murder Gwydion Castle mystery LARP at 9:00.

Saturday: Wormtooth Nation GURPS at 10:00 am. This event was $16.00 so I'll be expecting a good event. I'll be free for the rest of the day till the dance and a midnight Exalted game (I smell vampire).

Sunday: Wrap up that Exalted game, go to a GenCon worship service at 9:00 and head home sometime after that.

The one regret for my schedule: I was too late to register to any beginner costume-making lessons. There was one appropriate one that wasn't yet sold out, but it was a bit too early on Thursday afternoon and I chose not to risk it. I also sort of regret not getting into any D&D, but I'm so unhappy with 4th edition it's probably a blessing.

Edit: I went back and got into a Shadows over Camelot game. Penny Arcade did a comic on it, so it must be worth playing. Saturday afternoon. Percival FTW.