An Indepth Look Into A Geek's Soul

Hey guys, just tuning in to let you know that there will be no Top Ten List this week.  I've been rather busy last week and have absolutely no time to prepare for it this time around.  I apologize for any disappointments this may have caused.  In good news, you will be treated to a Top Ten next week, and I'll let you guys know that we'll be tackling my top ten favorite animals.  It's bound to be a good one filled with outdated thoughts on animal biology!

Other than that, there has been a lot of stuff happening this week, both good and bad and mostly all secret.  The one piece I can reveal to you know, for the first time ever, is that my grandpa broke his hand.  He slipped on some ice out back and WHAM! broke that sucker.  He's hand is in this cast now.  It's crazy.  So not used to it.

Already, weak update.  I'm out of here.

Peace Out.

Welcome back to another Top Ten list my friends.  It's good to keep these things going strong.  Yeah, it's posted a little later than what I would want, but hell, nothing you can do about that.  In fact, you should read this blog right here to see why these are rather difficult to come up with.  And why I might skip a week or four when I do this kind of thing.  But nevertheless, this is going to be all about mythical creatures in one form or another.  Enjoy.  And yeah, the first picture scares me too.

Number Ten: Zombies

Don’t get me wrong, if I saw a zombie, I would want this thing dead.  Again.  But zombies are just so sweet, even if I hatehorror films with all of my heart.  Iblame this one entirely on my zombie deck. It has been my best deck to me for longer than I care to remember.  Yes, it could be better, but that’s foranother Top Ten list folks.  Zombies arecool because of what they represent:  amockery of life.  Everyone at some pointwishes for a loved one to come back, but everyone would destroy that person ifthey came back as a zombie.  Plus,Dungeons and Dragons have come up with some awesome zombies.  I mean heck, ever seen a zombie explode whenyou kill it?  I have.  Well, my character has.

Number Nine: Goblins

How could you not love something as simple yet brilliantas a goblin?  Seriously, not only are these guys iconic beginning monsters for DnD, they are also some of thefunniest creatures you can come across. These guys take on entirely different aspects depending on which culturethey come from or what game you’re playing or which book you happen to pickup.  Which is another good selling pointabout them.  Personally, I like the factthat they are these shifty, sly little thieves, more or less, in DnD.  In Magic, I just love Festering Goblin.  And if any of you readers happen to stumbleinto the Writing Center at NMC, you have to ask Chris to do his impression of agoblin.  I’m pretty sure it’s one of the wonders of the world.

Number Eight: Dwarves

These stout little guys are pretty freaking sweet.  I’ve always had this thing for dwarvencharacters, mostly because everyone else tends to like elves more.  However, dwarves have always been theengineers of the mythical realm, more so than any gnome.  They delve deeper than most of the other humanoids out there, they love precious gems, and can’t wait to get drunk onsome ale.  What more could you reallywant from a mythical being?  What’sthat?  A lot more?  Well, that’s just mean.  I still like your Mr. Dwarf.  Come, lets go play with our mounds of platinum and gold beneath your mountain.

Number Seven: Unicorns

Before you guys give me crap, I’ve always loved unicorns.  I don’t care how gay that makes me.  These things are freaking sweet.  Yeah, they can be all good and kind and caring and all that jazz, but don’t piss them off.  They have a horn for a reason, which is to impale your stupid ass.  I think theunicorn is the reason I rather enjoyed Dungeons and Dragons.  In my first little mini set of adventure thatcame with my first starter set for the game, you fought a bunch of goblins tosave this unicorn.  It was awesome.  Yeah, I think I even had a picture of one at some point.  Won it t a carnival if I remember correctly.

Number Six:  Golems

I think the first memory of a golem comes from Dragon Warrior Monsters.  He’s one of the bosses in an early Traveler’s Gate, and low and behold, that guy was weak against sleep, which worked rather well for me if I do say so myself.  I’m not sure why he was weak to sleep either.  I’m thinking that maybe it has something to do with the origin of golems.  I think they are from Jewish mythology orsomething like that.  Anyways, golemshave evolved a great deal from their 8-bit days and have joined the 21st century doing all kinds of awesome things. I still think my favorite type of golem is the Iron Golem, mostly because he looks like a giant robot that is going to kill you with his sword.  Scary things. This one is purely based on nostalgia. Side note:  Nostalgia?  Really? Who the hell came up with that word? And where can I find you, so I can punch you.

Number Five: Jackalope

Not so much a mythical creature as a creature out of folklore, I love it just for the fact that I have a Magic card called Jackalope Herd.  How sweet is that?  I mean, rabbits with antlers?  That’s all win and no fail.  I would love to actually own one to be completely honest.  I think that I couldhave lots of fun with it.  I’d put it ona leash and walk it everywhere and it would be the closest thing to a pokemo nthat I would ever get to see in real life. Though a real life pokemon would be sweet too… JACKALOPE, GO!  Heh, yeah, that would be sweet.

Number Four: Phoenix

These guys are sweet because they are birds that are onfire.  Fire.  How sweet is that?  Let me tell you, it’s really sweet.  Plus, they are like impossible to really kill.  In fact, I’m not sure how you’resupposed to go about doing such a task. When they die, they tend to blow up in a giant fireball and take theirfoes down with them.  It leads to really stupid encounters in DnD.  It’s a good thing I never let Joel use one against me. It would make me never want to play the game again.  I still love the fact that Dumbeldore had Fawkes as his familiar more or less.  Everyoneelse has a raven, or an owl, or some cat, but he had a phoenix.  That pretty much trumps all.  Take that you stupid talking bird.  Poe should have written about the mighty phoenix instead.

Number Three: Illithids

Also commonly known as Mindflayers, these guys are theonly good thing about psionics.  Pretty much they are purple humanoids with an octopus for a head, they don’t look likemuch until they grab you by those tentacles and suck your brain out.  Yeah, they do that.  In fact, that’s the only thing they eat.  Brains. Think zombies, only smart.  And abit more powerful.  These guys work great as the villain of your campaigns, but really, they work awesome doing justabout anything.  These guys are always hard as hell, and you know you’re going to have a memory (good or bad) when yousee one.  Plus, they look like the bastard child of Cthulhu.  And there is nothing wrong with that at all.

Number Two:  Giants

I love the idea of giants.  The fact that they were simply giant humanoids with some kind of elemental tint to them is a rather awesome idea.  Now, I’m not sure if that’s theone that most people think of, but I always think of fire giants when I hear ofgiants.  Not sure why to tell you thetruth.  I think it’s because you hear alot about them in good old DnD.  Thosekinds are kind of scary, too.  Lots of damage, lots of fire, and an overall lack of niceness.  Also, I don’t view them in any sort of way asthe story “Food of the Gods” by H.G. Wells portrays them.  I rather like the idea that they are more orless an element taken human form.  Dealwith it people.

Number One: Dragons

Dragons are without a doubt the coolest kind of mythicalcreature out there.  There is a sense of wonder and awe that you get when you hear the word dragon.  They are majestic creatures that are at the heart of the best kind of stories.  I mean, there is a reason why it’s called Dungeons and Dragons.  I’m talking about the true blooded European dragons too.  Give me claws and wings and scales and fire breathing.  Get those Chinese lion headed snakes out of here. Yes, if you are looking for a memorable encounter, no matter the timeand place, get yourself a dragon.  In every format they are the king of the crop. Mighty terrors of the sky, yet at the same time great pools of knowledgeand wisdom.  Indeed, these awesomecreatures are the coolest things to come out of someone’s mind.

I've been thinking a lot about the future.  What does it hold for me?  What does't it hold for me?  Will I ace my second try at college? Will I get married?  Will I be successful at life?  Will I ever haveanother job as freaking sweet as the Writng Center?  And, perhaps most importantly, why am I even thinking about these kinds of things?

I guess I'll start with the last question, as it's the only one I havethe ability to answer with some degree of knowledge.  I think I may have finally grew up.  Yeah, I think it snuck up on me somewhere between going to school and trying to manage my bills.  I think it doesn't help that I've been reading this new web comic, which seems tobe all about this guy's past.  He doesn't seem to be too much older than me either.  Maybe 28 at the oldest?  I'm sure I could find out rather easily, I just haven't done so yet.  But anyways, the point is,he's only a few years older than I am and yet he has done what I consider to be a rather big thing.  He's publishing his own web comic. I would imagine it's reaching a fair amount of people, seeing as how Ifound about it about from my boss at the Writing Center who must have either met him somewhere or was told about it from someone.  What the hell am I going to be doing at 28?  I wish I knew.

But really, what would I do even if i did know?  Like, what if somehow I had a glimpse of what my life will be like when I'm 28?  Would that change the way I live?  I think I almost would.  Or I would like to believe I would at least.  I mean, if I knew I was still alive at 28,then I could take any risk I ever wanted and it wouldn't phase me, because I knew that I wouldn't die.  However, on the flip side, if I knew that my life was in shambles, that I was broke, stuck in a deadend job, and still alone, I think I would also just give up on life completely.

This of course, leads to what came first:  my future or the reaction to my future?  If I didn't know that my future was going to be a living hell, would I still end up living it, even if I tried my hardest to have a fantastic life?  Of course, this would only be a valid argument if the future itself is unchangable.  Which is a whole 'nother blog.  Sorry for the tanget guys.

Peace Out.

So I was on the way home tonight, randomly thinking of X-Men and it got me wondering what mutant power I would love to have.  And I'm talking just one.  No Xavier, no Wolverine, no someone who can do a billion different things.  Just one single power.  I think the power I would choose to have would be telepathy.  I think it would super awesome to be able to read people's minds without them knowing about it.  Just think of the implications.  I could be the worlds greatest spy, and no one could stop me.  Heck, they wouldn't even know that it is me.  I would have so much demand for my skills that I wouldn't have to worry about working every again.  Of course, I'm sure I could use it for some other purpose that would be easier than spying to make money, but I still like being a spy.

Something tells me I would use it more as a tool to keep my ego in check.  Knowing myself and the fact that I alawys want to know what people think about me, I would probably just use it mostly to find out what exactly they thought about me.  Do they really think I'm funny?  Is that chick really digging me?  Do these guys even want to hang out with me?  This is without a doubt totally unethical in my mind, but I know I would do it.  I have this intense desire to know what's going on around me, but most of the time I'm too shy and weak minded to just ask.  It would be a constant battle for me to have this power and use it for good and not just for further my own agendas, as is human nature.

I think whenever anyone answers a question like this, they are offering up an a look into one of their greater flaws.  They are trying to cover up for something that they dislike about themselves.  I mean heck, why wish for something that you already have a great amount of?  So what do you guys think?  Have any mutant powers you wish you had?  Leave em in the comments below.

Peace Out.

Hey guys, thanks for tuning in.  Tonight, I'll be talking about some changes that should be coming to the site here in the coming week or so.  They might even be coming this weekened.  I don't have to work and I don't think I'm doing anything, so why not do something like revamp the site?

The revamp won't be anything huge, just some actual additions to the other categories besides this one.  I think The Geek willd definitely be updated.  Might do a review of his new CD I got too.  Heck, if I get really bored, I might even go and changed the whole lay out of the website here.  I don't know if it's happening to you guys, but the little picture that's normally up at the top of the page hasn't been showing up for me. You should definitely let me know if that's happening to you as well.

I think I'll be adding a new section or two to the line up as well.  The one I know I will be adding is a place to throw all my links to the sites I go to all the time, and to just plug a bunch of my friend's sites as well.  Speaking of which, if you guys want to be included on there, just let me know and I can probably make this happen.  Also, if anyone knows a good place to learn HTML out there, let me know.  I know I could just look for stuff online, but I want something that you guys have tried out.  I've always have wanted to learn the stuff, just never have been able to do so.  Mostly because I am scatterbrained.  Kind of like this posting!

Peace Out.

You know it guys, it's time for the long awaited return of the Top Ten column.  Hopefully it'll be more of a weekly thing again, but only time will tell.  This week we shall be exploring the wonderful world of Middle Earth and my favoriite characters that reside in.  Enjoy.

Number Ten:  Sauron

That’s right, starting off with the evil of all evil. Whyyou ask?  Is it because I’m cold andheartless?  Naw, I just like him becausehe’s the most mysterious of the characters. Sure, you get the backstory of him, up to a point at least.  I want like his whole life story.  Why did he go evil?  What natural gift allowed him to craft theOne Ring?  What does he look like beneaththat sweet suit of armor?  These are allquestions I ask myself when I read about him. Plus, I like how he was mentioned in the Hobbit without you initiallyrealizing it.  He’s the Necromancerthere.  Also, how sweet is that?  Going by a nickname and still being feared byall?  Pure power right there.

Number Nine: Legolas

Yeah, I had to throw Legolas on there.  I know he’s an elf, and on principle Idislike elves, but I had to make an exception for him.  The reason? “Take him down Legolas!”  And thenhe doesn’t.  It could be said thatLegolas is the reason why Helm’s Deep almost fell, because he couldn’t slaythis one guy with a torch, even though he hit him three or four times.  Must suck to be an elf.  The only thing this guy has going for him ishis eyes.  The guy can see far away.  So far that it beats even Gandalf andAragorn.  That’s crazy far.  Another thing about him:  Gimli wins the kill count at the battle ofHelm’s Deep against this guy.  Beats himby one.  That must suck, doesn’t it,Legolas?

Number Eight: Merry

Merry is awesome sauce because I think he, more thananyone else, is the truest member of his race. No other character, not even Sam, truly embodies what it really means tobe a hobbit.  He’s able to sit on thesite of a mighty battle and engage in small talk like nothing had happened.  He has a found love of food (especially baconit seems) and pipeweed, and really, what good hobbit doesn’t?  The adventure changes him, sure, but notnearly as profoundly as it changes everyone else.  I think that in itself is the true way of thehobbit:  simple and unchanging.

Number Seven: Frodo

Yeah, I had to have Frodo on here.  I picked Frodo mostly because I would like tobelieve that if given the same choices as he was forced to make that I couldmake it too.  I guess I just see a bit ofmyself in him.  Not a very cool part,more like a tough part, the part of me that’s all tough as nails.  And he had to be tough as nails too.   He travelled more in his lifetime than Iexpect most people even dream of in theirs. May we all find the will to cast the One Ring away when our time comes.

Number Six:  Sam

Good old Sam.  Whatwould Frodo have done without you man? He wouldn’t have made it.  Sam isawesome in the same way that Neville Longtbottom is awesome:  he’s a great supporting character.  He’s loyal to a fault and will stand up forsomething when it really matters to him. He has some good bits of dialogue, especially when it comes toGollum.  It’s his distrustful ways thatbring out the worst of hobbits.  Italways makes me smile.  But more thananything, I think Sam would make a great friend.  He just seems like the kind of guy you couldknock a few beers back with and drink the night away without worrying about theconsequences.

Number Five:  TomBombadil

Oh Tom.  How sad itis that you were left out of the movies. I realize that you would never have fit in:  you are far too carefree and singsongy forthe majority of mainstream American cinema goers, but I would have liked to haveseen it nonetheless.  Your attitudetowards life is something to be admired and the fact that you can hold the OneRing and not be affected by it makes you might indeed.  I do think it’s rather cool how you had thosepoems made specifically for you.  Andyes, I did just look that up on Wikipedia. Sorry guy.  But hey, keep up thegood work, alright?  It’s not easy beingthe oldest being in Middle Earth, even if Treebeard claims to be older thanyou.

Number Four: Aragorn

Ah yes, Aragorn, son of Arathorn, wielding of the Bladethat was Broken but has been Reforged. Good guy.  If there was a regular,nonmagic wielding guy of Middle Earth that performs magical feats, it would begood old Strider.  He has this ability torally people without even trying.   Plus,he has a wicked blade.  I think the thingthat makes me like him more than anything are his skills though.  He is the very definition of a ranger.  Why, his skills are so impressive that eventhe elves are awed by it.  That commands someserious respect.

Number Three: Gandalf

How could any list be complete without Gandalf?  It wouldn’t be I tell you.  Gandalf is cool because of his extreme polaropposites.  For instance, he’s all happygo lucky Gandalf when he’s in the Shire. Take him over to Rohan though, and the guy is all business and verylittle play.  I guess being one of themost powerful beings on Middle Earth does that to you.  I do wish that he could have done some actualflashy spells in the movies, but hey, you can only do so much.  I suppose Gandalf holds all of his flash inthe form of nifty fireworks to impress the little folk.  Oh Gandalf, what would Middle Earth bewithout you?

Number Two:  Gimli

The dwarves of Middle Earth often get looked over in allthe fawning over the elves.  Well let meset it straight:  dwarves freakingrock.  Especially Gimli, son ofGloin.  Yeah, he is the butt of a lot ofjokes in the movies, but in the book, he is more likely to make the jokes.  Especially when Merry and Pippin wereinvolved.  He is a simple man who enjoyedsmoking his pipe and eating a good hardy meal. The biggest thing I would like to have with Gimli is a named ax.  Like, Aragorn has a named sword, so why can’tGimli get a sweet little weapon like that? Mostly, when I think of Gimli, I think of a person who enjoys the finerpoints of battle (especially when those nasty orcs are involved) and of hisdislike of horses.  He really hated thosethings.

Number One: Treebeard

This may come to a shocker to most people readingthis.  When people think of iconic Lordof the Rings characters, I don’t think that Treebeard comes up very often.  But for the life of me I can’t figure outwhy.  This guy exudes awesomeness.  First off, he’s as old as the forestitself.  That gives him tons ofexperience and wisdom.  Plus, he’s a hellof a fighter.  The thing I think I likemost about him though is his sense of humor. The movies do not do him justice at all. He makes all these sidecomments that just make me smile.  Ithink if I could be friends with anyone from the entire Tolkien universe,Treebeard would be my number one choice. 

Peace Out.

There comes a time in every Dungeon Master's career when he realizes that what he's doing is akin to playing God.  Oh, don't get me wrong, every dungeon master knows that they have complete control over the entirety of their little world.  Most of them realize that from the moment they make their first dungeon crawl.  What I'm talking about is when they are fleshing out the background of some insignificant NPC and suddenly stop and think of the consequences of that.  They might even begin to wonder if they themselves are all part of some grand dungeon master's world, a world that was created with such tend care and love that the fictional characters spring to life and act on their own, bringing a whole new level of life to the game.  That is a powerful realization.

I have stumbled upon glimpses of such a grand vision from time to time.  I think I've realized it more and more in the latest campaign world I've been thinking about creating.  I say thinking about creating because I want to put it down on paper but I have no idea where to start.  Do I start with large, sweeping brush strokes and work my way down to the individual or do I start with the smallest details and lead the grand picture slowly be revealed?  This time around I'm forcing mysel to take a back and forth approach.  I'm doing the best I can to start on the adventure level while only occassionally pulling back to a planar wide view of my world.  It is a dificult balancing act that must be done, but I think that in the end it will be for the benefit of all.

The basic storyline of my campaign is really coming together however.  I really do think that it could easily be the greatest thing I've ever written.  Without a doubt I have enough material to go from level one all the way to level thirty.  The most difficult part of it all will be writing in all the subtle nuances that I want to include.  I feel that for parts of the campaign there will be too much going on, while for others there won't be enough.  I'm searching for a way to keep it as fast paced as possible without overwhelming the characters.  Maybe fast paced isn't the right word choice.  Maybe I'm just thinking interesting.  Who knows.  At any rate, it is time for me to get back to work on it before I go to work at Best Buy.

Peace Out.

You know, I think it's time to delve into a fantasy word.  What exactly is my fantasy world?  I'm not sure.  I always imagine that it takes place in some high fantasy type of place.  You know, it would have the typical shinning castles with a grand moat, soaring towers, and a beautiful princess waiting for me with its mighty walls.  It would sit in the middle of a sweeping valley, high amoung snow peaked mountains.  The weather would be fair all year round.  The world around it would be fairly safe, too.  Sure, you would have the occasional monster attack:  a dragon attacking the peasants, goblins beseiging the castle gates, a zombie horde rising from their graves.  Of course I would beat back the threat.  It is me after all.  All and all, it would be very much like a cross between the Lord of the Rings and Dungeons and Dragons.

I think there would also be a very strong element of Pokemon thrown in.  I would have my Venusaur of course. Heck, he might be my only pokemon too.  Kind of like how in the games and show how most trainers only  have two or three guys?  I could totally do that.  Who else would I really need?  Venusaur could give me rides, use his vines to let me climb up to various places, and generally just be cool eveywhere that we go.  Would he have a nickname.  I'm not sure.  I normally don't nickname my guys, but if I had to do that, I think I would call him something awesome, like a Lord of the Rings name.  Maybe Treebeard, or Skinbark.  At any rate, we would be inseperable.

But what about you guys?  What would your fantasy world be like?  Go ahead and tell me.  Either right it in your own blog and post the URL to it as a comment or just post the fantasy as a comic.  I'm looking forward to reading what you guys come up with.

Oh, and there would be bacon.  Lots of bacon.

Peace Out.

So yeah, if you guys don't want to hear me be mean to myself, leave now.

Being all caught up in this whole "Year of the Jon" thing has just gotten me into one giant clusterfuck.  Me and my cocky attitude has blown right back in my face.  I should have known that it was going to.  It's not who I am.  I'm some stupid little guy pretending to be something he's not.  I'm not some cool, suave, sophisticated stud.  I'm just some loser of a geek who sits at home all day thinking of new DnD characters or how to put together a new Magic deck.  No wonder I can't get a damn girlfriend.  What kind of normal person would want me?  No one, that's who.  I'm just going to die alone, but fuck, what else is new?

Hell, I can't even win a damn match of bowling anymore.  I've won what?  Maybe 5 out of the last 25 games that I've played?  Pathetic.  What happened to the days when I could beat Collin with both my hands tied behind my back?  It's like he gets better every week and I just stay in this same old suckfest that I've been in since I left Maryland.  I was terrible back then, and I'm terrible now.

And yeah, to Carlee, I fucked up.  I highly doubt you are reading this, but I'm really sorry for everything that happened today.  I wish I could take it back.  What I said was really stupid, and I'm sorry if Carlo is giving you a hard time.  I'll just try to stay out of both of your guys's ways.  I'll just hunker down in my corner and let you guys pass by me.  Sorry for being an amoral jerk.

Peace Out.

This whole posting is pretty much going to be a shameless plug.  But, because you are reading this anyways, I assume you have time to waste and will therefore continue to read, no matter how terrible it ends up being.  For this I applaud you, oh hopelessly bored Internet User!

Plug One:  Dino RPG

Alright, I guess I should have told you that these plugs are terrible, internet game plugs.  The first one we'll talk about is Dino RPG.  It's this little internet based RPG where you loosely control a cutesy dinosaur and complete quest, fight random monsters, and generally waste your time.  I decided to try it recently (read:  today) and think I might stick with it for awhile.  It's free, it's easy, and something that you can play on a typewriter.  If you guys are interested to join me (which I think you should), go ahead and head over to this site here.  It is going to ask you when you sigh up for a reference, and I would appreciate it if you said geekcorner refered you.  I get gold or something like that this way.

Plug Two:  My Brute

Yeah, this game is kind of old.  I remember a time when a lot of guys on Facebook were all over this game.  Never really saw the appeal to it then.  Things change I guess.  Anyway, I created a guy on a whim really, and the simplistic approach to it is kind of thrilling.  I think I can easily get into this "game."  So on to shameless plug two.  If you go here, you will find my guy, thegeekcorner, ready and willing to fight your newly created brute.  If you make your guy fight me right away when you click on the link, you get to be my pupil!  That makes you awesome, and gets me experience.

Plug Three:  My Website

You guys who read my website but aren't memebers should join as members.  I think you'd like it.  It's one of my goals this year to get at least 10 members, and I think you guys can be an instrumental part of that.  Anyways, thanks for helping out in any of these endevours.  It makes me that much more of a leader.

Peace Out.