The Sleeper Must Awaken!
What's it been? Almost four years since the last installment? Brian, why don't you just let this blog die?
Just moved into Sacramento this past December. I like the space and the cleanliness of the place, but I can't stand big cities. My neighbor smokes on her balcony casually dropping her butts onto my front porch while playing hip-hop music, loudly, from her smartphone. I open the front door of my apartment and the wonderful smell of tobacco smoke assaults me. My tub takes twenty or so minutes to drain after a fifteen minute shower. It is not uncommon to find homeless people digging for grubs in the back of the building, nor for police choppers to announce overhead to call 911 if you find a medium-sized built man in his late 20's with grey sneakers and a black hoodie. I've heard residents call it the "Ghettocopter". Yesterday, I opened my windows to air the place out for once, taking advantage of the warm, clear, spring weather, and played some of my favorite classical pieces at a good volume to discourage the upstairs neighbor from her usual, musical pursuits.
Why did I move? Well, it made sense for a couple of reasons. Gone are the 70 mile commutes (140 miles both ways), and the landlord raised the rent by $150 twice in two years. I knew it was going to happen. When the 11th St. bridge was finished in October of 2017, I told myself that that was going to start a surge of rent increases in the downtown area. Sure enough. It wasn't a week later that I was told the inevitable news. So, I found myself a place for $1,000/mo. and so far, so good. Overall, I am a happier person for the change. I am sure my car thanks me for it as well.
There was a game convention not a few miles away from my new residence this past month called Sac ConQuest. I didn't go. I felt the twinge to go. I wanted to play games and have some fun. I wanted to meet new friends in the hobby of board and card games, but I was afraid of what I would find. You see, I quit going to game conventions some years ago because I saw the same people that I couldn't stand over and over again. Look, there are two types of gamers: Those that perform ritual acts of hygiene and Those who do not. I hate to bring up such a trope, but it's a truism. I also find that those who do not partake in establishing good hygiene also have mental issues: OCD, ADHD, Asberger's, and a host of little to large placements in the Autism Spectrum. The pot is calling the kettle black here because I inherited my ADHD from my father who also has it. But just because I have a condition (however innocuous) doesn't mean I have to like everyone who has it. There is a frequent condition in gaming (particularly board gaming) called AP or Analysis Paralysis; this is a condition where a person will sit there for an egregious amount of time thinking over every possible combination of moves to come up with the winning one, or at least, the best one. I understand that behavior if it were a world championship chess match worth half a million dollars in prize money, but for a friendly game of Caylus at a game convention? And these were the main reasons I didn't go to the convention. The weariness of having to endure people versus the fun to be had in a board game. I found the former to outweigh the latter in my mental balance (or perhaps imbalance).
So, I have decided, therefore, to call my gaming days quits, at least for board and card games. I'll stick with my old pals role-playing games and video games (PC only - screw consoles!).
And I have decided to go back to being a wordsmith and penning and reciting some poems. I will try to link up with the Sacramento Poetry Center again and see if things have changed. (I have already looked at their website and - damn! Things have changed!) The last time I graced their podium was in August of 2005. Now, I will have to screw my courage to the sticking post -- again.
Thanks for enduring me for another quadrennial blogpost. Hopefully, I will write again sooner rather than later.
Just moved into Sacramento this past December. I like the space and the cleanliness of the place, but I can't stand big cities. My neighbor smokes on her balcony casually dropping her butts onto my front porch while playing hip-hop music, loudly, from her smartphone. I open the front door of my apartment and the wonderful smell of tobacco smoke assaults me. My tub takes twenty or so minutes to drain after a fifteen minute shower. It is not uncommon to find homeless people digging for grubs in the back of the building, nor for police choppers to announce overhead to call 911 if you find a medium-sized built man in his late 20's with grey sneakers and a black hoodie. I've heard residents call it the "Ghettocopter". Yesterday, I opened my windows to air the place out for once, taking advantage of the warm, clear, spring weather, and played some of my favorite classical pieces at a good volume to discourage the upstairs neighbor from her usual, musical pursuits.
Why did I move? Well, it made sense for a couple of reasons. Gone are the 70 mile commutes (140 miles both ways), and the landlord raised the rent by $150 twice in two years. I knew it was going to happen. When the 11th St. bridge was finished in October of 2017, I told myself that that was going to start a surge of rent increases in the downtown area. Sure enough. It wasn't a week later that I was told the inevitable news. So, I found myself a place for $1,000/mo. and so far, so good. Overall, I am a happier person for the change. I am sure my car thanks me for it as well.
There was a game convention not a few miles away from my new residence this past month called Sac ConQuest. I didn't go. I felt the twinge to go. I wanted to play games and have some fun. I wanted to meet new friends in the hobby of board and card games, but I was afraid of what I would find. You see, I quit going to game conventions some years ago because I saw the same people that I couldn't stand over and over again. Look, there are two types of gamers: Those that perform ritual acts of hygiene and Those who do not. I hate to bring up such a trope, but it's a truism. I also find that those who do not partake in establishing good hygiene also have mental issues: OCD, ADHD, Asberger's, and a host of little to large placements in the Autism Spectrum. The pot is calling the kettle black here because I inherited my ADHD from my father who also has it. But just because I have a condition (however innocuous) doesn't mean I have to like everyone who has it. There is a frequent condition in gaming (particularly board gaming) called AP or Analysis Paralysis; this is a condition where a person will sit there for an egregious amount of time thinking over every possible combination of moves to come up with the winning one, or at least, the best one. I understand that behavior if it were a world championship chess match worth half a million dollars in prize money, but for a friendly game of Caylus at a game convention? And these were the main reasons I didn't go to the convention. The weariness of having to endure people versus the fun to be had in a board game. I found the former to outweigh the latter in my mental balance (or perhaps imbalance).
So, I have decided, therefore, to call my gaming days quits, at least for board and card games. I'll stick with my old pals role-playing games and video games (PC only - screw consoles!).
And I have decided to go back to being a wordsmith and penning and reciting some poems. I will try to link up with the Sacramento Poetry Center again and see if things have changed. (I have already looked at their website and - damn! Things have changed!) The last time I graced their podium was in August of 2005. Now, I will have to screw my courage to the sticking post -- again.
Thanks for enduring me for another quadrennial blogpost. Hopefully, I will write again sooner rather than later.
posted by Brian Perez at 2:41 PM
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