I came across an article on the internet the other day that I wished I'd saved so I could link to it here, but didn't happen to think of it at the time. Unlucky, really. The article was about a researcher who decided to try to figure out why some people were lucky and others weren't. He advertised for people who felt they were unusually lucky or unlucky so he could research potential differences between the two groups.
The test referenced in the article involved a fake ad inserted into a newspaper. Each person was given a section of newspaper and told to count how many photos were in that section. And in that section of newspaper was a half page advertisement in letters two inches high saying that if the person reported finding this ad to the researcher, he would be given $50. Members of the lucky group almost always found the fake ad, while members of the unlucky group almost always missed it.
I've heard one definition of luck as being when preparation meets opportunity. This study suggests that being observant is a key component of luck, because you can't take advantage of an opportunity you haven't perceived.
So keep your eyes open this upcoming year, because you never know what unknown possibilities might be just around the corner. May we all be luckier in 2009!
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Lives in the Balance/Dragon Lines
These are the two titles I'm considering for my current GURPS Cabal project. I think "Lives in the Balance" fits the story better, but "Dragon Lines" would probably draw more players. I'm interested in opinions on which is best if you have one.
This is the next in my Cabal series, and concerns the efforts of the the PC conspiracy group to restore the chi imbalance being suffered by one of their group because that imbalance is having disturbing and dangerous effects on that character's powers. Along the way, the players will probably learn some things about their own characters' level of balance. The balance part is obvious; "dragon lines" is a dramatic term for ley lines, which come into play as part of the story. The word "dragon" has more resonance with the RPG crowd, though it has less to do with what the story is really all about, but there is a lot of Asian flavor in the story, which makes it a bit more appropriate than it might appear to be.
I'm really enjoying doing the Cabal series, but it hasn't been drawing as well as it used to. I hate to give it up before doing the Lovecraftian entry I have planned next, though. Maybe I'll do that one with an eye toward bringing the series to an apocalyptic end.
After I finish this scenario, I'll move on to a comedic take on Sorcerer, which shouldn't take very long to do. I'm already doing a bit of associated research, and the core idea is straightforward enough. I learned from "A Dance of Pairs" that it's best to keep Sorcerer to no more than four players, a lesson I intend to apply here.
This is the next in my Cabal series, and concerns the efforts of the the PC conspiracy group to restore the chi imbalance being suffered by one of their group because that imbalance is having disturbing and dangerous effects on that character's powers. Along the way, the players will probably learn some things about their own characters' level of balance. The balance part is obvious; "dragon lines" is a dramatic term for ley lines, which come into play as part of the story. The word "dragon" has more resonance with the RPG crowd, though it has less to do with what the story is really all about, but there is a lot of Asian flavor in the story, which makes it a bit more appropriate than it might appear to be.
I'm really enjoying doing the Cabal series, but it hasn't been drawing as well as it used to. I hate to give it up before doing the Lovecraftian entry I have planned next, though. Maybe I'll do that one with an eye toward bringing the series to an apocalyptic end.
After I finish this scenario, I'll move on to a comedic take on Sorcerer, which shouldn't take very long to do. I'm already doing a bit of associated research, and the core idea is straightforward enough. I learned from "A Dance of Pairs" that it's best to keep Sorcerer to no more than four players, a lesson I intend to apply here.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Scorekeeping
One of the major reasons that I'm not a big fan of Christmas is that many people treat others badly because of it. This happens a lot in the days leading up to Christmas (shoppers trampling others over a sale in a retail store, disputes over parking spaces, etc.), as well as on Christmas Day itself. Much of this conflict comes out of differing ideas regarding what others should be doing during the holidays.
Christmas is ideally about giving gifts to people you care about and spending time with them, which is a beautiful concept at the core. The trouble starts when people start keeping score. For example, family members might compare the relative value of gifts exchanged, or the amount of thoughtfulness that goes into the choice of gift. There may be allowances made for relative incomes (a college student isn't expected to spend as much on a gift as his 40 year old uncle in high level corporate management), but it's inevitable that Aunt Jane is going to start getting miffed after receiving monkey-related gifts for the last five years when she doesn't know how Uncle Joe got the idea that she liked monkeys in the first place.
Gift giving is a skill all its own. My wife is very good at it, which is extremely fortunate because I'm very bad at it. Family members often don't allow for that variance in ability, and sometimes get upset with the person who really tried and simply made a bad choice while being very happy with the person who put no thought into it at all and happened to throw a lot of money coincidentally at a lucky choice.
There's also the matter of how you spend your time around the holidays. In the push and pull of conflicting family schedules, things always seem to work out badly for someone, who obviously isn't very happy about it. There are frequent misperceptions (or worse yet, correct perceptions) that one part of the family is being favored over another, and as a result, what should be a happy occasion turns into a source of anger.
People who truly care about each other will generally allow a little slack in these holiday matters (not to mention everything else in life), and yet nearly every family seems to have at least one scorekeeper stirring up so much trouble that the holiday hardly seems worth the effort. As in most things, if someone seems to be slighting you, try to show some forgiveness and understanding, as it's a lot more likely that they've simply made a mistake than that they were trying to intentionally offend you. And if they are intentionally trying to offend you, there's no point in messing up your own karma in retaliation of some kind. There's almost certainly a more skillful way to deal with whatever the underlying problem is.
Christmas is ideally about giving gifts to people you care about and spending time with them, which is a beautiful concept at the core. The trouble starts when people start keeping score. For example, family members might compare the relative value of gifts exchanged, or the amount of thoughtfulness that goes into the choice of gift. There may be allowances made for relative incomes (a college student isn't expected to spend as much on a gift as his 40 year old uncle in high level corporate management), but it's inevitable that Aunt Jane is going to start getting miffed after receiving monkey-related gifts for the last five years when she doesn't know how Uncle Joe got the idea that she liked monkeys in the first place.
Gift giving is a skill all its own. My wife is very good at it, which is extremely fortunate because I'm very bad at it. Family members often don't allow for that variance in ability, and sometimes get upset with the person who really tried and simply made a bad choice while being very happy with the person who put no thought into it at all and happened to throw a lot of money coincidentally at a lucky choice.
There's also the matter of how you spend your time around the holidays. In the push and pull of conflicting family schedules, things always seem to work out badly for someone, who obviously isn't very happy about it. There are frequent misperceptions (or worse yet, correct perceptions) that one part of the family is being favored over another, and as a result, what should be a happy occasion turns into a source of anger.
People who truly care about each other will generally allow a little slack in these holiday matters (not to mention everything else in life), and yet nearly every family seems to have at least one scorekeeper stirring up so much trouble that the holiday hardly seems worth the effort. As in most things, if someone seems to be slighting you, try to show some forgiveness and understanding, as it's a lot more likely that they've simply made a mistake than that they were trying to intentionally offend you. And if they are intentionally trying to offend you, there's no point in messing up your own karma in retaliation of some kind. There's almost certainly a more skillful way to deal with whatever the underlying problem is.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Personal Inventory
I did a post like this roughly this time last year, and thought I'd do another.
The changes in my life this year were not nearly as radical as the year before. This year has been more about implementing what I learned last year. So how well did I really do?
For the most part, I'd say the improvements have continued, if on a much smaller scale. My temper control in general has improved quite a bit, but some slips in the last two weeks have showed me that I still have a lot of work to do in that respect.
As far as tolerating anger in others, I've gotten a little better than last year at not letting the emotional states of others undermine my own, but again, there's a lot of work to do in that area. I really want to believe that people are basically decent, but especially in my work, they give me plenty of reason to feel otherwise. This upcoming week should be a particular challenge as the pre-Christmas meltdowns come to a head.
I've been doing yoga for nearly a year now, and feel much better physically as a result. I can't begin to tell you how much of a difference it's made.
My recreational interest in alcohol is all but gone. I can still enjoy a beer now and again with friends (and enjoyed a whopping two at this year's company Christmas party), but I really have to think about whether or not I want an alcoholic drink when the opportunity arises. I didn't even have a beer when I went out to dinner for my birthday this year. On the other hand, when I do have one these days, I really savor it.
My life is just plain too crowded these days, and I've realized that I'm going to have to make some decisions this year about what to do with my time in the future. My inclination is to cut back on my roleplaying activities to spend time on music, but I want to do this carefully, staying involved for the most part while pruning some of the activities that are working less well than others for me. I'm getting a little roleplaying writing done (more on that in a post to follow), but it feels more like work to me now, which isn't a good sign.
Merry Christmas, or Happy Holidays, or the politically correct greeting of your choice to all!
The changes in my life this year were not nearly as radical as the year before. This year has been more about implementing what I learned last year. So how well did I really do?
For the most part, I'd say the improvements have continued, if on a much smaller scale. My temper control in general has improved quite a bit, but some slips in the last two weeks have showed me that I still have a lot of work to do in that respect.
As far as tolerating anger in others, I've gotten a little better than last year at not letting the emotional states of others undermine my own, but again, there's a lot of work to do in that area. I really want to believe that people are basically decent, but especially in my work, they give me plenty of reason to feel otherwise. This upcoming week should be a particular challenge as the pre-Christmas meltdowns come to a head.
I've been doing yoga for nearly a year now, and feel much better physically as a result. I can't begin to tell you how much of a difference it's made.
My recreational interest in alcohol is all but gone. I can still enjoy a beer now and again with friends (and enjoyed a whopping two at this year's company Christmas party), but I really have to think about whether or not I want an alcoholic drink when the opportunity arises. I didn't even have a beer when I went out to dinner for my birthday this year. On the other hand, when I do have one these days, I really savor it.
My life is just plain too crowded these days, and I've realized that I'm going to have to make some decisions this year about what to do with my time in the future. My inclination is to cut back on my roleplaying activities to spend time on music, but I want to do this carefully, staying involved for the most part while pruning some of the activities that are working less well than others for me. I'm getting a little roleplaying writing done (more on that in a post to follow), but it feels more like work to me now, which isn't a good sign.
Merry Christmas, or Happy Holidays, or the politically correct greeting of your choice to all!
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Lead Guitar
I've never been much of a fan of guitar soloing. Too much of what passes for guitar soloing is more about trying to impress the crowd with how fast the soloist can play than about playing something actually musically interesting. I came across one particularly egregious example on Youtube where a guitarist and bassist for an apparently popular band are doing nothing more on stage than taking turns playing regular ol' scales as fast as they possibly can. Good practice, and impressive in a physical sense, but it left me absolutely cold as a musician.
I much prefer players who only play three notes, but they are exactly the right three notes for the song. David Gilmour of Pink Floyd is one of my heroes in that regard.
I'd also like to see more variety in solo instruments in rock music. I'd love to hear more saxophones, or violins, or just about anything other than guitar. One of the reasons that the Talking Heads' "Stop Making Sense" appeals so much to me is the brilliant keyboard soloing that's all over the album.
I fully understand why we're never going to get away from guitar soloing dominating rock music. It's as simple as that you're virtually always going to have guitarists in a rock band and guitar soloing is generally more appealing than bass or drum soloing. Plus, most bands can't afford to have, say, a sax player as a band member for the sole purpose of playing solos, and it's just as dull to hear sax solos all night as hearing guitar solos all night.
If I had absolute control of an all original rock band, I'd probably go with a guitar/bass/drums/keyboards line-up and ask the keyboard player to handle as much of the soloing as the guitar player (if not more), using as much variety in the choice of sounds as possible. Supertramp had a very cool solution to this problem by having a member who played a variety of instruments (sax, clarinet, keyboards, etc.), but musicians with that sort of ability don't exactly grow on trees.
In light of my tastes, my latest personal musical upgrade is especially funny: I'm learning how to play lead guitar. It's not something I set out to do, and I don't plan to ever perform live in that role, though I might try jamming with some friends. I rented a guitar instructional video from Netflix with the intention of improving my rhythm guitar playing, since I've been spending more time on guitar as part of my current project, and it happened to include a bit about playing rudimentary lead guitar. Feeling that it'd be a waste to not use information that was right in front of me, I watched the lead guitar part and did some experimenting. I have to admit that I enjoyed it and also picked up some things I could use on bass as well. It's made practicing alone far more enjoyable, and I can finally see some of the appeal of lead guitar playing in a way I'd failed to appreciate before. As I find myself saying so often lately, I wish I'd started doing this a long time ago.
I much prefer players who only play three notes, but they are exactly the right three notes for the song. David Gilmour of Pink Floyd is one of my heroes in that regard.
I'd also like to see more variety in solo instruments in rock music. I'd love to hear more saxophones, or violins, or just about anything other than guitar. One of the reasons that the Talking Heads' "Stop Making Sense" appeals so much to me is the brilliant keyboard soloing that's all over the album.
I fully understand why we're never going to get away from guitar soloing dominating rock music. It's as simple as that you're virtually always going to have guitarists in a rock band and guitar soloing is generally more appealing than bass or drum soloing. Plus, most bands can't afford to have, say, a sax player as a band member for the sole purpose of playing solos, and it's just as dull to hear sax solos all night as hearing guitar solos all night.
If I had absolute control of an all original rock band, I'd probably go with a guitar/bass/drums/keyboards line-up and ask the keyboard player to handle as much of the soloing as the guitar player (if not more), using as much variety in the choice of sounds as possible. Supertramp had a very cool solution to this problem by having a member who played a variety of instruments (sax, clarinet, keyboards, etc.), but musicians with that sort of ability don't exactly grow on trees.
In light of my tastes, my latest personal musical upgrade is especially funny: I'm learning how to play lead guitar. It's not something I set out to do, and I don't plan to ever perform live in that role, though I might try jamming with some friends. I rented a guitar instructional video from Netflix with the intention of improving my rhythm guitar playing, since I've been spending more time on guitar as part of my current project, and it happened to include a bit about playing rudimentary lead guitar. Feeling that it'd be a waste to not use information that was right in front of me, I watched the lead guitar part and did some experimenting. I have to admit that I enjoyed it and also picked up some things I could use on bass as well. It's made practicing alone far more enjoyable, and I can finally see some of the appeal of lead guitar playing in a way I'd failed to appreciate before. As I find myself saying so often lately, I wish I'd started doing this a long time ago.
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
The Kingdom
This isn't the Stephen King remake I'm talking about here; it's the original Danish TV series that Stephen King thought was so cool he'd try to remake it. I didn't give the Stephen King version more than a passing glance, largely because I remember being particularly busy at the time, and then what little I'd seen just seemed... wrong. The characters seemed more like caricatures than people to me. It was weird, and I don't mean fun weird; I mean just bad weird, almost as though the people making it were trying too hard.
On the other hand, the original is Twin Peaks style weird, which is a very good weird indeed. It's closer in flavor to Twin Peaks than most of David Lynch's film work. I just love it when someone can make TV (or movies) that have horror and comedy right on top of each other and both of them retain their full power, even gaining effectiveness from the juxtaposition. And the original version of "The Kingdom" does just that.
If you happen to rent the DVD, hang in there during the first episode, because honestly it's not especially good, but they needed it to set everything up for later. If you still don't like the second episode, then hang it up, because that's pretty much what the rest will be like, except the weirdness quotient just keeps ratcheting up. I seriously doubt we'll see anything similar to some of the scenes in "The Kingdom" on commercial American television anytime soon.
Unfortunately, there were only eight episodes made, and they never brought it to a conclusion. Further episodes were written, but several of the cast members have passed away, so it appears that the rest will never be made. A pity, really. Highly recommended for those with a taste for the strange and a tolerance for a slightly slow pace by American standards.
On the other hand, the original is Twin Peaks style weird, which is a very good weird indeed. It's closer in flavor to Twin Peaks than most of David Lynch's film work. I just love it when someone can make TV (or movies) that have horror and comedy right on top of each other and both of them retain their full power, even gaining effectiveness from the juxtaposition. And the original version of "The Kingdom" does just that.
If you happen to rent the DVD, hang in there during the first episode, because honestly it's not especially good, but they needed it to set everything up for later. If you still don't like the second episode, then hang it up, because that's pretty much what the rest will be like, except the weirdness quotient just keeps ratcheting up. I seriously doubt we'll see anything similar to some of the scenes in "The Kingdom" on commercial American television anytime soon.
Unfortunately, there were only eight episodes made, and they never brought it to a conclusion. Further episodes were written, but several of the cast members have passed away, so it appears that the rest will never be made. A pity, really. Highly recommended for those with a taste for the strange and a tolerance for a slightly slow pace by American standards.
Friday, December 05, 2008
Work, the Holidays, and Anger Management
It's been a while since I've posted because I've had my hands abundantly full. The time between Thanksgiving and the New Year is always the worst for a claims adjuster. We have a lot of people out on vacation (therefore fewer people to do the work) at the same time that the work load dramatically increases as people have accidents while buzzing around doing Holiday Stuff. At the same time, it's common for someone in management to suddenly initiate a particularly time-consuming project requiring a lot of meetings or additional work from everyone, usually because they were supposed to get to it by the end of the year and hadn't quite managed to do it until now. The activity level in our office is often like a retail store during this same time of year.
Most of the people we need to deal with are a whole lot less patient around the holidays, and this year we have the added bonus of a weak economy. I've seen more suspect claims in the last week than I have in the last two or three months combined, and I doubt that's going to improve anytime soon. Unsurprisingly, I've seen a lot of people who might have shrugged off a few bruises in better times now demanding substantial compensation for "all they've been through", which is usually a single trip to the hospital to be checked out and a few days of soreness. I'm not saying that being in a car accident is a day at the beach (I've been in more than one car accident myself); it's just that a lot of people have a wildly exaggerated idea of what their level of the experience is worth in dollar terms.
The irony is that people who really are seriously injured are too busy coping with genuine physical issues to waste time screaming at claims adjusters, while the ones who raise the most fuss are the ones who've been involved in accidents where you can't even see the damage on their car. There's a lesson for everyday life here and I'd like to say I've fully learned it, since I see it on a daily basis, but I'm sure even the best of us lose their sense of proportion from time to time, and I don't qualify for "the best of us".
Things piled up on me badly at roughly the midpoint of this week, and I had a minor blowup with a co-worker. Not loud, but tense. I'm not happy about that, all the more because I seemed to be getting a much better handle on my temper while under pressure, and this was a big step back in that regard. My reaction was at least partially (if not fully) justified, but that's not a valid excuse for my choice of words.
I barely spoke for the rest of the week, apart from necessary business conversation, and kept my cool no matter what for the rest of an especially busy week. I'm not feeling good about how things played out, and yet I don't feel it's appropriate to apologize any more than I already have. It can take a long time to heal the wounds caused in just a few moments.
Most of the people we need to deal with are a whole lot less patient around the holidays, and this year we have the added bonus of a weak economy. I've seen more suspect claims in the last week than I have in the last two or three months combined, and I doubt that's going to improve anytime soon. Unsurprisingly, I've seen a lot of people who might have shrugged off a few bruises in better times now demanding substantial compensation for "all they've been through", which is usually a single trip to the hospital to be checked out and a few days of soreness. I'm not saying that being in a car accident is a day at the beach (I've been in more than one car accident myself); it's just that a lot of people have a wildly exaggerated idea of what their level of the experience is worth in dollar terms.
The irony is that people who really are seriously injured are too busy coping with genuine physical issues to waste time screaming at claims adjusters, while the ones who raise the most fuss are the ones who've been involved in accidents where you can't even see the damage on their car. There's a lesson for everyday life here and I'd like to say I've fully learned it, since I see it on a daily basis, but I'm sure even the best of us lose their sense of proportion from time to time, and I don't qualify for "the best of us".
Things piled up on me badly at roughly the midpoint of this week, and I had a minor blowup with a co-worker. Not loud, but tense. I'm not happy about that, all the more because I seemed to be getting a much better handle on my temper while under pressure, and this was a big step back in that regard. My reaction was at least partially (if not fully) justified, but that's not a valid excuse for my choice of words.
I barely spoke for the rest of the week, apart from necessary business conversation, and kept my cool no matter what for the rest of an especially busy week. I'm not feeling good about how things played out, and yet I don't feel it's appropriate to apologize any more than I already have. It can take a long time to heal the wounds caused in just a few moments.
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