A Dark And Quiet Room

There haven’t been many blog posts around these parts recently. There hasn’t been much game design either. Actually, very little creative has been going on in my life recently.

Right now, I’m feeling tired. Some of this is doubtless the result of having come through our experience of the fire. Some of it is probably because it’s winter.

I’ve decided that’s okay.

Rather than trying to fight my fatigue, I’ve decided to take this time to rest. So, I’m not making lots of additional commitments. I’m not writing blog posts furiously or scribbling game design notes or anything else. I’m just…resting. Taking time to play with my children. Relaxing in the evening and doing nothing of consequence. This won’t last forever. But for now, it feels necessary. So, that’s what I’m going to do.

So, please be patient. You will see more content here again. You’ll probably see more games from me, too. Just not yet.

As I write, I’m sitting at my dining room table. Yep, the one that’s in my house. We’ve been back for about 24 hours. Last night, I slept in my own bed. We’re still unpacking, and there are still issues to be addressed, but we are home!

God has been good to us.

One of the ways that He has blessed us is with the people of Providence Church. Over the last month, we have been overwhelmed by the love and assistance they have provided us. I’d write everything down, but there’s just so much that it would take too long, and then I’d still be afraid that I’d forget something. Some helped us understand how to work with the insurance company. Others offered expert advice on the electrical work that had to be done. Still others opened their homes to us so that we could have some time away from the cramped quarters of the hotel. And, of course, when it was time, people showed up to help us move back in.

And then there was the financial assistance. Some of the electrical work that the city inspector required was not covered by the insurance company. So, the deacons of Providence Church organized a special collection, and the people of our church raised enough money to pay for all the additional electrical work. And, I was informed, if we had further unexpected expenses, there was more available. Several times Deacon Sanford urged me to keep him informed of our needs so that the deacons could coordinate the church’s assistance.

This continues to be a difficult and emotional time. But, through it, God has brought good. Because, through it, He has shown us how much our church loves us.

Right now, I’m surrounded by children getting ready to head over to the house. So, I must be brief. (By the end, we’ll see if I actually pulled that off.)

The electrical and HVAC work is done. The city inspector has approved the electrical work. As I type, the cleaners are working to remove any lingering smoke smell from the house. And, in a few minutes, Crystal and I are taking a work crew down to the house to prepare it for our arrival tomorrow.

That’s right. Barring some disaster, we will be moving back into our house tomorrow. God willing, we will ring in the new year at home.

Doubtless there will be issues upon reentry. But for now, we’re glad to be on the verge of returning home.

Or, perhaps I should say, Rooksbridge!

Um, so, a little backstory. First, let’s talk about me.

I am not an early adopter. It’s true. I am the person who reads reviews, contemplates options, weighs variables, and finally makes an informed decision. Also, for most of my life, I’ve not really had lots of money to spend on experimental purchases. So I’m fairly conservative when it comes to investing money or time into something new.

Now, a little about Josh Roby. I first really interacted with Josh when he was working on his game Sons of Liberty, which I playtested at GenCon 2007 and proceeded to blab about a lot.

Since then, I had the opportunity to meet Josh and Meghann at GenCon 2008. My only regret about that meeting is that they live in Los Angeles. I wish they lived closer. Say, in Peoria. Then we’d have more opportunities to get together and hang out. Josh and I would argue religion and politics loudly over a beer while Meghann and Crystal hovered in the other room, making sure we didn’t kill each other. And, of course, Prudence and Hope would be playing in the other room, watched by my other children. It would be good times.

(Consider that an invitation, guys! Moving to Peoria is a great idea!)

So, last July, Josh announces a new project: Rooksbridge. This isn’t a game project; instead, it’s a serial fiction project. I look at it and even downloaded the free installment (”Dirty Work”). But, I never quite had the time to read it, and it slipped off my radar. Occasionally I’d see Josh talking about Rooksbridge on Twitter, but (not being an early adopter), I didn’t want to spend the money on something that I didn’t know about.

Then something wonderful happened.

Josh emailed me (among other folks) and offered me a copy of all five of the Rooksbridge stores that he has written so far. He said that he was needing to spread the word about Rooksbridge and that he was sending out these free copies to people he knew that might like Rooksbridge and would then be effective in talking about it. He was very clear that he wasn’t trying to buy good press or anything. He was just hoping that we’d like what he wrote and then talk about it.

Well, an appeal like that, coupled with free stuff, is hard to resist. So I figured I’d finally give Rooksbridge a chance. The price was right, and I was having a hard time focusing on longer works. And, as I say, I like Josh, and this was a chance to help him out.

So I read “Dirty Work”, the first chapbook of Rooksbridge.

I loved it.

Rooksbridge fits into the darker, grittier style of fantasy that has become popular over the last few years, such as A Song of Ice and Fire or The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone. Rooksbridge has a significant advantage over these works: it’s much shorter. Josh says, “Each chapbook tells its own story, but together, the chapbooks tell a much bigger story set in a place called Rooksbridge. It’s not unlike a television series that you can read.” Actually, a better comparison is to an issue of a comic book, such as Fell. And it’s true. Each story does stand alone, but I can’t imagine reading just one. “Dirty Work” is probably the best as a stand-alone, but that’s simply because there’s no prior story to refer to.

I’m also impressed by Josh’s choice of format for releasing these stories. In short, he’s chosen all of them. Want to read these stories on your smartphone or computer? He has a PDF format for that. Want an actual hardcopy? He can do that for you. More into audiobooks? Yep, he has that, too.

And they’re cheap! The electronic copies are just $2.

Now, personally, I’d love to see Josh release periodic collections of these stories in print. Say, one per year or something like that. After all, I prefer reading my comics in trade paperback collections, not month by month. But, you know what? I finished the latest chapbook “Where There Is Smoke” a couple nights ago. And now I want more. Now!

Because of my bad experience with Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series, I made myself a rule that I never start a series that isn’t already finished. Whenever I’ve violated this rule, I’ve regretted it.

For Rooksbridge, though, I think I’m going to break my rule.

From http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/religion/re0374.html:

According to Professor Robert Greenberg of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, the Benedictine monks arranged these antiphons with a definite purpose. If one starts with the last title and takes the first letter of each one – Emmanuel, Rex, Oriens, Clavis, Radix, Adonai, Sapientia – the Latin words ero cras are formed, meaning, “Tomorrow, I will come.” Therefore, the Lord Jesus, whose coming we have prepared for in Advent and whom we have addressed in these seven Messianic titles, now speaks to us, “Tomorrow, I will come.”? So the “O Antiphons”? not only bring intensity to our Advent preparation, but bring it to a joyful conclusion.

But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. (2 Peter 3:8-9)

Even so, come Lord Jesus.

Amen.

O Emmanuel, God with us,
Our King and Lawgiver,
the expected of the nations and their Saviour:

Come

to save us, O Lord our God. Amen.

O Emmanuel,
Rex et legisfer noster,
expectatio gentium, et Salvator erum:

ad salvandum nos, Domine Deus noster.

One of my very first blog posts was quoting Moby from the liner notes to his album Hotel. I think I have a little more to add now.

I’ve now lived in a hotel for a little over three weeks. This has been really challenging, but I find it hard to explain. I mean, it’s hard to complain about a place that has an indoor pool and hot tub. You can make waffles for breakfast, which is nifty. Every day, someone comes through and replaces all our towels and makes the bed. It’s like magic.

But it’s not home, and each day is full of subtle reminders that we are not at home. The kitchen isn’t big enough. The children don’t have enough space to run around. We don’t have enough dishes and pots and pans. And…I don’t know. Everything just feels harder.

And it’s not home.

We’ve been so busy that there isn’t time to think, which has probably been a gift. When I have too much of a pause, the reality of what’s going on in my life comes crashing in on me.

But what about the hot tub? The pool? The waffles? Aren’t these things good and enjoyable?

Sure they are. But I’d give them up in a heartbeat to be home.

This world…this world is like a hotel. There are lots of good things here to enjoy, and it’s certainly not wrong to enjoy them.

But it’s not home.

O King of the Gentiles and their desired One,
the Cornerstone that makes both one:

Come,

and deliver man,
whom you formed out of the dust of the earth.
Amen.

O Rex gentium, et desideratus earum,
lapisque angularis, qui facis utraque unem:

et salva hominem,
quem de limo formasti.

O Dawn of the East,
Brightness of light eternal,
And Sun of Justice:

Come,

And enlighten those who sit in darkness
And in the shadow of death.
Amen.

O Oriens,
splendor lucis aeternae,
et sol justitiae:

et illumina sedentis in tenebris,
et umbra mortis.

O Key of David, And Sceptre of the House of Israel,
Who opens and no man shuts, Who shuts and no man opens:

Come,

And bring forth the captive from his prison,
He who sits in darkness and in the shadow of death.
Amen.

O Clavis David, et sceptrum domus Israel:
qui aperis, et nemo claudit; claudis, et nemo aperit:

et educ vinctum de domo carceris,
sedentem in tenebris, et umbra mortis.

O Root of Jesse,
that stands for an ensign of the people,
before whom the kings keep silence and unto whom the Gentiles shall make supplication:

Come,

to deliver us, and tarry not.
Amen.

O Radix Jesse,
qui stas in signum populorum, s
uper quem continebunt reges os suum, quem gentes deprecabuntur;

ad liberandum nos, iam noli tardere.

O Lord and Ruler of the House of Israel,
who appeared to Moses in the flame of the burning bush
and gave him the law on Sinai:

Come,

and redeem us with outstretched arms.
Amen.

O Adonai, et dux domus Israel,
qui Moysi in igne flammae rubi apparuisti,
et ei in Sina legem dedisti:

ad redimendum nos in brachio extento.

O Wisdom,
Who came from the mouth of the Most High,
Reaching from end to end and ordering all things mightily and sweetly:

Come,

and teach us the way of prudence.
Amen.

O Sapientia,
quae ex ore Altissimi prodiisti, a
ttingens a fine usque ad finem fortiter,
suaviterque disponens omnia:

ad docendum nos viam prudentiae.

Since there are many of you who are interested in what’s going on with my house, I figured I’d blog the latest details. This way I can disperse the news as far as possible with minimal work on my part. Or, so goes the theory.

Let me begin by apologizing for this update being late. Originally, I had planned on writing an update on Monday. However, what with this and that and the other thing, it has slid until today. And that’s pretty much been the story of our life recently: details spinning around our heads while things just go more slowly than expected. It’s weird, really. Just yesterday I was feeling like there wasn’t nearly as much progress as I wanted while feeling overwhelmed at the pace that information was coming at me.

So, anyways, details. Last week, the city inspector approved turning the power back on to the house after the electrician isolated and disconnected the bad circuit. This has resulted in nearly half the house still being without power. As this includes the upstairs furnace, the HVAC people can’t even do their work yet. Sigh. In addition, the city inspector had a list of other code updates that he was going to insist on. His plan was to come back early this week and show us what he wanted.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that the city inspector is apparently really busy and seems to have a decent working relationship with our electrician. So, he changed his mind and simply told our electrician what code updates he wants. So, yesterday, we went through the house with the electrician, who gathered information to get an estimate. That won’t be ready for another day or so, but it’s in process.

In fact, we’re going to get two estimates. The one is for the code updates and the other is for the remaining wiring and such to get the power fully restored in the house. The insurance won’t cover code updates, but they will cover electrical work that is the result of fire damage. So, more good news is that it appears that a lot of the electrical work is actually covered. We won’t know until we submit our estimate to the adjuster, but Crystal simply presented the news of an estimate to him as a fait accompli, and he apparently responded like he was expecting this news. So, it seems that he was trying to avoid having to pay for any wiring, but hopefully he won’t challenge this expense. There’s something to pray about.

In addition, we have a decision facing us. There have been a number of men from the church who have offered to help do work on the house, once we know what the repairs are going to be. We figure that the forthcoming electrical estimate would be a reasonable guide to this. However, if the insurance company will cover that work, I’m wondering if it would be best to let the electrician do it. My big concern is that the inspector seems fairly comfortable with our electrician. If this is the case, why rock the boat by pulling our own work permit? The biggest problem with this approach is that the electrician is currently saying that they couldn’t start work until the week of December 28. So, yeah, that’s another couple weeks in the hotel, which all parties involved would rather avoid. Something else to pray about.

On the flip side, a major advantage to having the electrician do the work is that it reduces stress on my family. Everyone is feeling the fact that we’re displaced, and the stress shows in various ways. Being able to concentrate on taking care of my family without having to run back and forth from the house would be quite welcome.

So, there you have it. As I know more, I’ll keep you posted. Well, within a couple of days, at least.

It’s Christmastime! That means it’s time to decorate my blog with the O Antiphons. Merry Christmas, everyone!

from Jeff Myers’ blog:

How do we pray for his first coming? How can we pray for what has already happened? We can’t. He’s already come. So when we sing “O Come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel”? we are not playing a game, acting like we are Israelites living before the birth of Jesus. This hymn is a corporate prayer. We are the new Israel. And we are asking Jesus to come again and again to deliver us from sin and the curse. We use the language and imagry of his first coming, but the prayer addressed to our faithful God in reference to our mourning in lowly exile.