Wow...that hasn't happened in a LONG time...logged onto RPOL, and ALL of the games I'm in have new messages!

Sent a submission to a game by a GM i used play in a game with about seven years ago, he said he would not remember old user names so people should give character names. I was not accepted into the game, which is cool, because he actually remember by name. Hopefully I'll be next in line, since he's a good GM.

Wooot, we quit selling RIBS!

So, after talking with a friend over the holiday and deciding we were getting pretty close to being ready to shoot one of the short film projects we've been polishing for a while, I started feeling a little nervous about the prospects of casting.  I mean, we want this to be a good, solid project...not something that people would watch and go, "Man...good story, nice camera work...too bad they didn't find someone who could actually act."  At the same time, we're tackling this out-of-pocket...it's something we're doing for fun, not because we're expecting a big monetary return on it (if we do it right, the monetary return might happen...but it's not part of the planning.)

So, as I often do when confronted with daunting problems, I turned to my friends.  Posted something on Facebook about just testing the general interest level, explained in brief what we were doing and how it most likely wouldn't be paid...

In 24 hours, I've had over 40 individuals respond in one way or another, saying, "Yeah, I'm interested!"  Granted, some of them don't have much experience.  Some of them wouldn't work at all for what we've got in mind for our first project.  Several of them weren't speaking for themselves, they mentioned that one of their kids, or another friend, or some of their kids' friends might be interested.  But still...with the number of people who responded, and the talent level of the ones who did?  I feel like we could schedule shooting for all the projects we've got on the table right now, and do a solid job of casting them (the inexperienced folks?  We still need extras, we could find a place for them.  And if they turned out to be good, we'd find something more featured for them.)

Granted, at this point, this is just a newly-developing hobby for me.  But it's a hobby that just became a much more plausible prospect.

I am not sure if this should go here or in vents lol. I just found graph paper maps from my old dnd campaigns I made as a kid... wow they were bad and brought back some memories. Though some left me scratching my head.

Last month our cat Oreo went missing, we thought him to have been run over by a car.  I was searching our local Humane Society's web page today just for fun, and found a picture of another cat that looked just like him.  When I went there to see if it really was him, I was happy beyond words to discover Oreo was still very much alive. ^_^

Whoever found him must have kept him inside over the last month, because now he is huge.  Hoping to bring him home tomorrow ^_^  So happy :)

Playing board games with my dad and brothers and some other folks on New Year's Eve. Time well-spent. I learned Terra Mystica. Highly recommended for anyone who likes a good strategy board game.


Now to win a match. I've played 3 so far and ended up in second place about 5 points outside of first every time.

broke up with my job today

Finally won custody of my girls!

Quit my job - only to literally have a new job appear in my life a few hours later.  Was serendipitous.

Latest freelancing project?  A friend of a friend of mine has hired me to be a fight choreographer and teach stage combat to her students...

I'd be happier about it if said friend of friend was in...oh...Vegas.  Or Southern California.  Or Florida.  Flying to North Dakota in late January feels a little too much like Russian Roulette to me...*grin*  But I'll be getting paid almost as much for a week of having fun as I get paid for two weeks of my regular job.  So even if the weather isn't what I'd like it to be, I'm still excited for the prospect.

I have a job interview in twelve hours.

I learned about it half an hour ago, because the position opened today due to someone leaving the tax firm.

I just graduated from university with a B.A. in General Business and a B.A. in Accounting.

But I haven't done any actual accounting stuff for a year.

Here's hoping I get to post the results of this interview in this thread soon instead of the vent thread.

In reply to Shei-kun (msg # 582):

Relax, I will tell you a secret my brother, an auditor, told me. No matter how experienced you are, no matter how fresh from college are or your grades, everyone needs training.

In reply to Shei-kun (msg # 582):

I've been told that most places that hire don't want perfect skills as much as want a competent person with a good attitude.
In other words, they want someone they can train who'll work well with them, than a brilliant person who won't get along with anyone.
So attitude is everything.

Also, sometimes the person who isn't so well trained works out better, because they aren't set in someone else's pattern.

Found out today that my sons are both ok with me dating. They pretty much demanded I get a girlfriend or get back with their mom. I am not sure whether to be annoyed or find this cute.

>.<

In reply to Merevel (msg # 586):

Depends why?  Do they want you to be happy?  be busy and butt out of their lives?  or??

They are 2 and 4 lol. At least once a week my oldest yells at me about it. So either he misses having his mommy around all the time, or she is putting him up to it.

Then again, he is not the only one trying to get me to date again.

Finished up a week as a 'guest artist' teaching stage combat.  And I've gotta say, I've had a GREAT time.  I still need to type up the choreography notes...but everybody seemed to pick up what they were taught quickly (and, just as importantly, nobody did anything stupid to get hurt, and they all listened and adjusted what they were doing when I made suggestions or provided critiques).

I'll admit, the whole thing's made me a little nostalgic for my college theater days...but only if someone else is paying the bills.  *grin*

Still...even though it's a tiny university in the middle of North Dakota, and there's precious little glamorous about the city, or the university, I've had a really good time.  Certainly didn't suck...and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

I rededicated myself to some health goals at the first of the year.  I've already lost 24.5 lbs since January 1st, and I feel great!  23% of the way to my goal weight for the year in just a month, I started at 310 lbs, and I am shooting for 201.5 lbs.

Before you balk at the weight loss rate as being unhealthy, I am eating plenty of good food and giving myself plenty of fuel and nutrients to maintain my body as I work out.  I just finished a Whole 30 (strict elimination Paleo diet), and I've also been doing T25 (yeah, yeah, I know it's Team Beachbody, and I got it through an infomercial, but its a good, solid workout), and a nice, moderate three classes a week of Bikram yoga.

Just thought I would share. :)

One thing I've noticed through the years...weight gain/loss is a very individual process.  I mean, I work at an amusement park, in entertainment...we've had dancers that joined us at the start of a season with a 36" waist measurement, who have, by the time six weeks of rehearsal are over, slimmed down to a 32" waist.  And I've worked with guys who started the summer with a 38" waist and barely changed at all over three months of full-time performance.

In reply to Lancebreaker (msg # 590):

Good for you for losing weight. All I can say is consult a doctor. Fad diets are terrible for your health. One of my coworkers was on a diet once that was less then 600 calories a day, that does not even cover base metabolism... Reminds me of the zen diet that hit news years ago.

Congrats on the weight loss!  But remember you are already dealing with a different body and metabolism than you started with.  It's unlikely you will lose so fast now (at least for a while), even likely you will hit a plateau while everything adjusts.  Don't let this discourage you!

In reply to Brianna (msg # 593):

Good on you! I trust when you say you have a good workout and a good diet plan. As Brianna said, though, beware the plateau. Your body will adapt. You may find switching between two or three diet plans and workouts that you are confident are healthy non-quick-fix plans is the way to go.

Anyway, to my good thing... The Waltons. I don't care what anyone says, this is some of the best television ever made. I think it's funny that I had this preconceived notion my youth gave me. I was sure before I started watching it that The Waltons was garbage. I couldn't have been more wrong. To anyone out there who remembers all the jokes from the 80's but is too young to remember the actual show... Watch it. It's seriously one of the greatest shows of all time.

The cat got into the fish dinner tonight :D