by elizabeth on June 20, 2009
It all started with Livejournal. I’d found a decent Doctor Who community there and had bookmarked it to check in once in a while. One community became two, and then three, etc, and I eventually realized that the easiest way to keep track was to unearth my ancient Livejournal account, friend them all, and check my friends page now and again. At some point along the way I’d found some places interesting enough to de-lurk and leave comments, which I suppose was the beginning of the end.
I joined a lulzy Doctor Who community for, well, the lulz. Highly entertaining, but it had a segment of the population that made posts roleplaying as Doctor Who characters. Lulz were one thing, but that was just weird, I thought at the time. But it wasn’t quite enough to scare me off into lurking again, which may have been the end of the end. I read these weird RP posts, and, hey, they were high on fun content. I started chatting with some of the RPers, and it was even more fun. And now I’m a little concerned for my continued sanity, because I am one of the RPers and it’s a good approximation of the most fun ever.
I suppose it keeps me off the streets and out of trouble.
And speaking of trouble…
This week it was announced that David Tennant and Russell T. Davies are going to be at San Diego Comic-Con. I found this out and immediately started looking for someone to dog-sit. A few hours later I’d booked air and hotel and the day after I had (mostly) secured tickets. (Tickets being sold out by this point… well, don’t ask.) I am flying across the country on what is mostly a fangirlish whim. This should probably worry me more than any roleplaying I’m doing.
I will be doing at least some work at Comic-Con (I’d previously considered attending for this purpose, but decided I had too much travel already happening this summer), as in recent years it has much more of a gaming focus… so the whole thing isn’t just fun and games, but catching up with Tennant and Davies certainly will be. So long as I can manage to be in the same room as the two of them without hyperventilating or anything.
by elizabeth on June 14, 2009
Not just that I’ve been reading them, but I’ve been reading a lot of them. Very fast. I’ve burned through the first seven books in just over two weeks. Take this as an indication of their quality or an indication of author Jim Butcher‘s evil talent at making it impossible to put his books down — there’s some truth to both. The books present us with a compelling world, both like and unlike our own. (And the more you read, the more compelling it gets — each book reveals a little more.) The characters all feel real, coming to life easily in your mind. And the main character, Harry Dresden, is a gem — a skilled wizard, an outcast with a dark past, a code of ethics anyone would wish they could live up to, and he’s snarky as hell on top of it. He’s perpetually in over his head which just means each book is packed with enough near-deadly action-adventure to fill five or six Hollywood movies.
In short, the series as I have read it so far is neigh on perfection.
But it was really just fun and games for me until I hit this passage in the seventh book, where Dresden hits on the heart of the matter of dog ownership:
Mouse [read: the dog] padded over to me through the dimness. He chuffed softly at me, and then laid his head down on my leg. My eyes were closed, but I could hear his tail thumping softly against the couch. I rested my bad hand on Mouse’s head and petted him awkwardly. Mouse didn’t mind. He just leaned against me, loaning me the warmth of his fur and the silent faithfulness of his presence. It made me feel better. Mouse might not have been the smartest creature on earth, but he was steady, kind, loyal, and was possessed of the uncanny wisdom of beasts for knowing whom to trust. I might not have been a superhero, but Mouse thought I was pretty darned cool.
Even as my two pups are out on the back deck and very likely eating my potted plants, I’ve got to say I agree. Jim Butcher understands the whole dog thing, which makes him good people in my book. The fact that he writes some pretty darned good novels on top of that is just icing.
