Cynical Avocado's Absolutely Admirable Accumulation of Random Bantering #165

[MoonCat]

My dad has got to be the WORST person to recommend anything to. He has a stack of nine books beside his bed which are all recommendations from people, many of which were recommended over a year ago, and which he says he intends to read. Then he fills up his whole Kindle full of things, read all of them and never touches the books. Finally today I just sat down and grabbed one of my recommendations of the shelf and read for twenty four pages so that he would get hooked. He's as bad as my old Humanities teacher.

ION: Yay for pumpkin pie making!

[Cobalt]

I still need to get around to that stack of books on my dresser. I'm a few pages/chapters in on each of them, but I stopped for whatever reason and now they've piled up again.

Maybe tomorrow. Which, funnily enough, is the start of my school year, so I'll likely try and then say 'no time.' The books will then stay on my dresser top for one year to the day and I will repeat this scenario verbatim.

In unrelated news, these two and this music makes me want to dance. And I don't dance.

[Eon]

I have a lot of books I still need to get off my shelf and read. But when I go to read I always end up reading Orson Scott Card books instead. Not that I'm complaining.

ION: Apparently saying you were juggling chainsaws is not a valid reason for a small cut on your arm.

[AsteriskAmp]

I need to remember to actually read the books in my stack which simply keeps building up. From borrowed books to recommended books to pocket books I have around 16 of those beside me, and I still have to read the school books, and actually go through the pile of DVD seasons stacked over the pile of books, and then the pile of DS games I still have to clear that is piled next to it, and then the Music Books I should be studying and...

Now I remember the reason why I learned to ignore the pile.

[Tragic_Comedian]

Typically if I buy more than one book at the bookstore, only one of those books will get read. Been doin' better lately though.

There was a time when any fantasy book I bought would just suck so bad. Either it'd be a ripoff of something I had already read, or just be boring. They'd always have good reviews, though. It was puzzling.

[Lyesmith]

My last waterstones raid had me walking out with Sirens, Game of Thrones and Side Jobs, which are being dipped in to, nearly finished, and fully read, respectively.

I tend to avoid the Fantasy genre, as a rule. Something about the covers and the titles, I think. There are, of course, many exceptions.

ALTERNATIVELY : I am a snob.

[absolmorph]

ION: Apparently saying you were juggling chainsaws is not a valid reason for a small cut on your arm.

Well, yeah, everyone knows only posers juggle chainsaws. The real men juggle bears.

Lyesmith: You got Side Jobs? Lucky!
I'm assuming you're referring to the Dresden Files short story anthology.
Man, I still don't know where I can find the RPG book... :/

[Lyesmith]

Lyesmith: You got Side Jobs? Lucky!
I'm assuming you're referring to the Dresden Files short story anthology.
Man, I still don't know where I can find the RPG book... :/

I was indeed. I also saw Ghost Story for as much as I'd pre-ordered it on Amazon, but seeing as i already had it...

Have you tried scouring The Internet (tm) for it? The books are probably somewhere within the great aether of the interwebnets.

[Eon]

Well, yeah, everyone knows only posers juggle chainsaws. The real men juggle bears.

Lyesmith: You got Side Jobs? Lucky!
I'm assuming you're referring to the Dresden Files short story anthology.
Man, I still don't know where I can find the RPG book... :/

None were available.

[Tragic_Comedian]

Have you tried scouring The Internet (tm) for it? The books are probably somewhere within the great aether of the interwebnets.

But that would be wrong.

[factotum]

I really need to get back into reading...I have more than 20 books in my "to read" shelves next to me! Plus getting on for that number of DVDs to watch...not to mention a good dozen computer games I have installed that I need to finish...darn it, who's willing to sign my petition for a 29 hour day?

[CynicalAvocado]

the only book in my collection that i haven't finished is catch-22

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

the only book in my collection that i haven't finished is catch-22

which is a brilliantly hilarious book that you should finish right now

The last 2 series that kept me up late at night reading, because I couldn't put them down were ASoIaF, and the Millennium Trilogy, The Girl Who Played With Fire and all.

[Ranger Mattos]

ION: Yay for pumpkin pie making!

Yay for pumpkin pie in general!

As for books that I have that I have yet to read, I have a lot. Scattered around my room, mixed in with the rest of my books.

[Lyesmith]

But that would be wrong.

I meant online stores and the like, I figure they're the best shot.

[Blue Ghost]

My dad has got to be the WORST person to recommend anything to. He has a stack of nine books beside his bed which are all recommendations from people, many of which were recommended over a year ago, and which he says he intends to read. Then he fills up his whole Kindle full of things, read all of them and never touches the books. Finally today I just sat down and grabbed one of my recommendations of the shelf and read for twenty four pages so that he would get hooked. He's as bad as my old Humanities teacher.

ION: Yay for pumpkin pie making!

I hope I don't get like that. I still need to read One Piece, Discworld, Dragonlance, and who knows what else.
Speaking of recommendations, have you looked into Redwall yet?

[Mutant Sheep]

I hope I don't get like that. I still need to read One Piece, Discworld, Dragonlance, and who knows what else.
Speaking of recommendations, have you looked into Redwall yet?

Redwall is awesome, though the stories all feel the same after you read a few.

Spoiler

Show

"Evil rat is attacking Abbey, ask giant Badger for help".
"Evil sea rat-pirate is evil and enslaving people, mice and rabbits hares defeat them"".
"Misunderstood rat is sad and helps good guys against another horde of evil rats".
"Awesome warrior mouse's sword helps some other animal defeat evil rat warlord."
"Awesome warrior mouse makes tons of friends in a strange land, and saves them from some evil horde of rats."

The author was awesome though, went to a book signing, he was crazy awesome British. (He joked he worked with Christopher Lee, but I think he was being serious.)

[Tragic_Comedian]

Redwall is awesome, though the stories all feel the same after you read a few. "Evil rat is attacking Abbey, ask giant Badger for help".
"Evil sea rat-pirate is evil and enslaving people, mice and rabbits hares defeat them"".
"Misunderstood rat is sad and helps good guys against another horde of evil rats".

Hey, no spoilers.

[AsteriskAmp]

So instead of reading anything in my pile, or doing homework, or pending things (like requests) I decided to watch Vittorio Gassman read and analyse the Divina Commedia. Absolutely worth it despite my Italian being rather rusty after not hearing anything in Italian sans the occasional Neapolitan term flanged around my house for around 2 or three years.

[MoonCat]

I'm sorry to say Blue, but I have not gotten anywhere with Redwall. No excuses actually, I just haven't gotten myself up to doing it yet. And I keep forgetting entirely.

ION: Gods, I'm beat. I spent much of my morning rushing around making a pie, and then I spent the rest of it and then all afternoon moving EVERYTHING out of my room. I'm painting it blue, finally, but I am exhausted now.

ONION: Blargh, why is backstories so hard to write up properly? I know it sounded excellent in my head last night...

[AsteriskAmp]

I'm sorry to say Blue, but I have not gotten anywhere with Redwall. No excuses actually, I just haven't gotten myself up to doing it yet. And I keep forgetting entirely.

ION: Gods, I'm beat. I spent much of my morning rushing around making a pie, and then I spent the rest of it and then all afternoon moving EVERYTHING out of my room. I'm painting it blue, finally, but I am exhausted now.

ONION: Blargh, why is backstories so hard to write up properly? I know it sounded excellent in my head last night...

I believe there is or should be a law somewhere describing people's inability to actually read their recommended literature...

That's great! Have you already covered the flooring or carpet with newspapers?

Try to write it as bullet points and then flesh it out slowly. Also, odds are most DMs don't actually pay much attention toward a back-story if it is too long, so sometimes, simple bullet points suffice and are better appreciated.

[LaZodiac]

Also, odds are most DMs don't actually pay much attention toward a back-story if it is too long, so sometimes, simple bullet points suffice and are better appreciated.

As a DM I am slightly insulted by that. You should get to know your characters, so you know how to effect them and what not.

[Skeppio]

Try to write it as bullet points and then flesh it out slowly. Also, odds are most DMs don't actually pay much attention toward a back-story if it is too long, so sometimes, simple bullet points suffice and are better appreciated.

*ahem* My DM does. She modeled the first part of our campaign around each of our players backstories. Silly generalisation is silly.

[AsteriskAmp]

As a DM I am slightly insulted by that. You should get to know your characters, so you know how to effect them and what not.

I've been a DM for most of my gaming life (with a brief interlude at the current time where I'm a mere player) and I do know the importance of it, and having to read them, but the odds of one actually remembering most of what was read from a 5 pages back-story which was coated heavily to actually resemble literature and actually implementing it are pretty narrow in the sense that it is a total of 25 pages for a five people party. I do like reading back-stories from time to time as literary pieces, but I've found the best way to actually get to implement parts of them is to jot down quick notes on major events and do a small sum of all the psychological and physiological characteristics, and at the end it is not insulting for DMs, there is enough work in planning a whole world, back story handling shouldn't be another chore.

In essence bullet points of: Traumatic Events/Joyful Events/Psychological Characteristics/Sketch/Important People in Life/
And if REALLY relevant, important locations.

Not a long spanning epic of the life of your character to that point. Also, a lot simpler to do.

[Coidzor]

I've seen some 1 page sheets to compartmentalize the various aspects of a character's backstory included as part of bundles of player-designed character sheets.

I've seen both bulletpoints and short answer questions to condense things down into 5 lines or less on the subject.

*ahem* My DM does. She modeled the first part of our campaign around each of our players backstories. Silly generalisation is silly.

It's hardly silly, but it is situational.

Most games, given my understanding of the tastes of this forum at least, tend to not dwell very long on the roots of the characters. So backstory comes up very rarely & has to be dealt with carefully to not let a single player's time in the spotlight hijack the campaign.

[MoonCat]

I believe there is or should be a law somewhere describing people's inability to actually read their recommended literature...

That's great! Have you already covered the flooring or carpet with newspapers?

Try to write it as bullet points and then flesh it out slowly. Also, odds are most DMs don't actually pay much attention toward a back-story if it is too long, so sometimes, simple bullet points suffice and are better appreciated.

Oh yeah, big time.

We'll be using plastic sheets and duct tape to do it, and the hardware store was closed. We'll be doing that, and the painting tomorrow.

My DM reads it and is interested, I think. She was encouraging me and Teodor do write ours. My DM is perfect! She's brilliant! I love her!/suck-up

[LaZodiac]

I've been a DM for most of my gaming life (with a brief interlude at the current time where I'm a mere player) and I do know the importance of it, and having to read them, but the odds of one actually remembering most of what was read from a 5 pages back-story which was coated heavily to actually resemble literature and actually implementing it are pretty narrow in the sense that it is a total of 25 pages for a five people party. I do like reading back-stories from time to time as literary pieces, but I've found the best way to actually get to implement parts of them is to jot down quick notes on major events and do a small sum of all the psychological and physiological characteristics, and at the end it is not insulting for DMs, there is enough work in planning a whole world, back story handling shouldn't be another chore.

In essence bullet points of: Traumatic Events/Joyful Events/Psychological Characteristics/Sketch/Important People in Life/
And if REALLY relevant, important locations.

Not a long spanning epic of the life of your character to that point. Also, a lot simpler to do.

Ahhh. Well, to each their own. I can understand how it might be grating after awhile, but I guess for me seeing my players have such a drive to create makes me want to try and match them.

I do admit that having a bullet point summary would be useful too.

EDIT: Oh MoonCat, you make me blush

Also you called Absolmorph by his character's name

[MoonCat]

EDIT: Oh MoonCat, you make me blush

Also you called Absolmorph by his character's name

...You know, normally I'd brush that off with a comment about being unable to distinguish reality from story, but considering I somehow managed to convince myself that there was a whole piece of backstory you' told us about that I actually must hav emade up in my head, I'm sort of scared now.

ION: Hey guys, did I mention my hair turned light brown again?

[Mutant Sheep]

...You know, normally I'd brush that off with a comment about being unable to distinguish reality from story, but considering I somehow managed to convince myself that there was a whole piece of backstory you' told us about that I actually must hav emade up in my head, I'm sort of scared now.

ION: Hey guys, did I mention my hair turned light brown again?

Magic hair. Your a pony. I DON'T UNDERSTAND THESE WORDS!!!1!!one!

[LaZodiac]

...You know, normally I'd brush that off with a comment about being unable to distinguish reality from story, but considering I somehow managed to convince myself that there was a whole piece of backstory you' told us about that I actually must hav emade up in my head, I'm sort of scared now.

ION: Hey guys, did I mention my hair turned light brown again?

Hooray. As delicious sounding as caramel hair is, I think brunette suits you better.

And don't worry. I might of said something similiar to what you were thinking. And besides, being so invested in the world and story is part of what makes it fun