Monday Morning The Vat was just fine. Reloaded.

We had a good Thanksgiving. Both of our families were dealt with without any violence. My family can be particularly difficult, but they were good.

With the ongoing changes in search engine tech it is time for me to begin recoding our websites with CSS and html 5 compatability. For years I have just been wedging stuff into the sites wherever I can make it go. The web maintenance end of this operation is really nearly a full time job in itself. I am going to start with the Art by SVC site. I am focusing on getting templates in place so I can build the site faster and be able to add to it with more ease. I also want to make our Google Ads, Stevia, Apple and PetSmart ads fit in better. We make very little from them but it does pay our webserver fees in the fall. Every little bit helps.

Susan's Black Friday Sale Experiment.

Dragon Storm Booster ten packs $125.00 each.

The Order Page is right here. Check it out.

Twelve different 5x7 unmatted prints at $6.00 each

Good Morning! We started talking already.

Sue is relaxing, the foot rubs, breakfast in bed, forced exercise and more are having a positive effect. Mocha and Mac are assisting in their own ways. Mocha is taking Sue for walks and Mac is forcing Sue to sit by pinning her in a chair. It does not get any better than that.

We started talking about the publishing issues facing us. The only really firm thought we have is that some projects will have to be classified as "tinker" projects. That means giving them a very low priority and to avoid feeling bad if they do not get done. Good start. Next we need to create a full list of the projects and evaluate each.

Relax and Contemplate

We have finally exited the hectic, for us, nine months of the year. I am taking some time to pamper my Sue, and once she is relaxed we will take a look back at the past season and begin looking at what we can do in the coming 2010 season. The year has been a treat for us. Sure there were some rough spots, but that is what makes life interesting.

I have managed to do about half of what I wanted to in 2009. And even then I was too often forced to finish projects with more haste than would be prudent.

It seems to me that I am going to have to look over all of the projects and determine which to get done this next year and which we put off to 2011, or even later. We have an art business, game business, broadcast business, programming business and web business to look at. Each could easily consume all of our time. Sometimes by spreading ourselves over such a territory we do not meet our own standards, yet each has a place in paying the bills. If we drop one will we replace the lost income by refocusing our thinking? That is a tough question to answer.

Oddly, I am looking forward to the next year of work, even if we continue to be Jacks-of-all-trades.

Sue is safe at home!

Mocha is dancing, Mac is singing and I am grinning! Night All!

Sunday Morning

Saturday at MWFF went good for Sue. She sounded both cheerful and tired last night. She is spending nights doing commissions and tagging on a couple of hours sleep, then back to the dealers room. I am hoping she can drive home tonight at the end of the Con. I want to see her.

I am continuing to build the resources for scenario and town building for the Go Time/Crypt Crawl system. I keep getting ideas as I work, so I have started on an article of when a GM really should and should not call for a contest roll. I know most of our GM's have this knowledge already, but some are confused by the question.

I am working on a new Con List page for next year. I will be adding it soon.

Mocha has just come up to let me know I need a walk...

I can not help myself

Sometimes the Onion has an interesting take on life, and the world around us. So, here is a link:

Area Man Passionate Defender Of What He Imagines Constitution To Be

Good Morning! and a few other thoughts.

I heard from Sue late last night and she is happy with the responses of patrons at Midwest Furfest. It is going very well.

For myself I am finally beginning to enjoy this "lonely" time. It takes me a couple of days to adjust. I have done a lot of reading the last couple of days and it has brought me to think about writing a couple of articles.

One is on the handling of "clues" when running RPG games. I would argue that clues come in two flavors: necessary and luxury. Some clues are essential to the success of the party. These clues need to be delivered by the GM. That means that the characters must get the necessary clues by using their skills, no matter what the dice say. They need to be able to read the sign, or find the notes, or solve the puzzle. The luxury clues can be missed, they are not essential, just nice to have.

I think that I need a way in the adventures I am working on to let the GM know which clues are necessary. I think that having a "Clue" section on the encounter form would give a place to point out the clues. I have just skipped over to my format for encounters and rooms and done some work on it. The sections of a Crypt Crawl/Go Time encounter sheet now look like this:

1. Quick Looks: (Things the players see without a contest.)

2. Hidden Sights: (Things the players note with a contest.)

3. The Story Here: (To help the GM role-play the encounter.)

4. Clues: (Information necessary for the players to acquire.)

5. Traps: (Natural dangers and set dangers that can hurt the characters.)

6. The Opposition: (The opposition is to be overcome by combat or role-playing.)

7. The Friendlies: (The potential friendlies involved.)

8. Obvious Treasure: (Right out in the open, no roll needed.)

9. Found Treasure: (Hidden treasures, roll needed to find.)

10. Special Treasures: (Treasures that have a special significance, such as Relics. Easy to find.)

Everything takes more time to do than one expects. Writing, in particular, may go easily or it may fight back. Sometimes I spend hours on a short work and other times it seems to flow. I am never sure when to "give up" and move on, returning to the pieces I am stuck on later.

Friday, Alone and Wondering

I have started going through my traditional morning wake up sequence, but it does not have that "something" that makes it enjoyable. It is all different when Sue is not here to drink coffee with me.

I tried moving the alarms from 8am to 7am. Life has started making 11 am a time to be moving. (I know, too early for humans to be moving rationally.) My first attempt saw me sleeping right through the alarms. My eyes came open at about 9:30. This may not be as easy as it seems.

As usual my mind in the morning is swimming with ideas of what to do and I am having trouble catching one of the ideas to focus on. I think I will start with a small Crypt Crawl idea. I really need to formalize the Terrible Two charts I have wandering around on scraps of paper. Then I will get the new Storm Howler artwork available as prints on Etsy.

I have not heard from Sue yet. I need more coffee. I will write more later.

Sue is safe at MWFF

I have heard from Sue. She has checked into the hotel. She will set up in the morning for the Con.

As for me, freedom has gone to my head and I have laid around all day. Ahh, well, maybe I will work yet tonight, but I think not.