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Ruminations From A Dragon Con Registration Pick Up Line

It’s that Dragon Con time of year again, Thank God! And this morning we had breakfast and then went to get in line to pick up our con badges at the Courtland Grand Atlanta Hotel (formerly Sheraton). The line was long as expected, but moving quickly, also as expected.

Dragon Con Badge Pickup Line – Faster Than It Looks

While still outside, I noticed a woman breastfeeding her baby as she moved along in the hustle and bustle of the crowd. I did not think much about it at the time, only remembering that all of our children were also breastfed, and having some warm memories of those times. Once inside though, my thoughts drifted back to the woman breastfeeding her child.

I thought of just how important this event must be for someone to bring their child to it. We never brought any of our babies to conventions. We tried it once with our first child, only to return home and find a sitter because it was not working out. But later, we did bring our kids, once they could walk on their own. So in our own experiences, these cons were important enough events to involve the entire family.

Then it occurred to me that this was really the norm for Humans across history. The family was always involved in every activity worthy of doing, whether traveling to find more fertile pastures across the plains or around the world. Or gathering to celebrate new life, or mourning the passing of loved ones.

So back in 1987 when Star Trek: The Next Generation revealed that Galaxy Class starships like the Enterprise, included crew and their families, it wasn’t some strange, woke, notion shoe horned into the lore. Indeed, it was consistent with Human behavior across centuries of history. The Family is the fundamental unit of Humanity. This is how we do things, and this is how we Dragon Con, from newborn babes to Octogenarian Matriarchs!

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Not Forgotten

It’s been a month since we lost our family dog to a cancerous tumor. After work I moved some of her things from the kitchen to the basement in hopes of donating them to someone who can use them later. I had to stop a little early though, because even after a month, I’m still choking up on the verge of tears. For almost 12 years, Shadow was a part of our family and I guess I’m still a little sad that she is no longer here.

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Games and Sports General

Uncharted Space

Since my last post here, I finished Endwalker just before year’s end and am current caught up on Final Fantasy XIV Main Scenario Quest (MSQ) up to patch 6.18! So I find myself in some strange uncharted space on a number of fronts.

Losira is having a great time clubbing with friends and so many in our group have paired up and gotten Eternally Bonded (in game Marriage)! I love the in game wedding ceremonies! So our group is going through some changes. It’s really interesting to see how this all plays out and evolves, but I can’t help but feel maybe just a little bit jealous. That in itself is absolutely fascinating to me.

There are a lot of things to do yet in the game, but the social stuff is really where I spend a lot of time, especially now that Data Center travel is live. So Losira can finally go to the other Data Centers, Aether and Crystal. So far she’s only been to Crystal to visit Teraflare and Pluto’s Kiss, and the infamous Billboard Party on Balmung! I even made a new friend over there talking and dancing for hours!

But closer to home, the doki doki moments just keep on coming. Oh shoot, it’s way too late at night for this!

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All About What?

What’s it all about? That question enters my mind regularly as I dance back and forth across the line between reality and the digital spaces I inhabit like online games. But lately I struggle with the disappointment I feel when my so called IRL self doesn’t match up with my game selves. I feel like I’m not living up to people’s expectations, and in some cases, my own.

It’s been over a year since I started playing as Losira in Final Fantasy XIV. I’m still having a great deal of fun and I’m nearing my goal of completing the current game story content ahead of the Endwalker expansion release in November. And the nightclub scene has just exploded across all data centers in the game. You can literally dance all night, every night across the entire game! I really love it!

I’ve met a lot of interesting people out clubbing, and I’m glad we are having fun together. But then I feel disappointed because the physical me does not match up with the in-game me. The real life girl isn’t the in-game girl by many measures and I don’t want to let people down, or break their hearts.

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Games and Sports General

Oh My Heart!

I am really enjoying my play through of Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward! The story has totally sucked me in and I’m spending a lot of enjoyable time doing other things in the the world as well. My anxieties about playing group content are a receding memory as I routinely jump into dungeons and trials of the main story as a tank, blind rather than viewing a guide first! I must say that this game has stolen my heart.

But the heart wants what it wants, and I guess some hearts may want me, maybe? This past weekend, I was at the Rave Weekend parties at the Allure Lounge. Friday night was great! Music, dancing, and I got some good videos recorded too! I was really excited about doing it again on Saturday. By this time I was back to mostly being on my own and not part of a group as the group I had been with had gone through some romantic realignments and such. This wasn’t a problem for me, things come and go. And I’m used to going to all kinds of things on my own anyway, story of my life, lol.

Saturday, I’d no sooner got into line before I found myself in two separate conversations with two different people, both wanting attention. Then further behind me I spied two more friends who I’d also be talking or dancing with later. I was feeling a little overloaded and wasn’t sure how I was going to manage all of this. I like all of these people, and I didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. But I didn’t really want to be anyone’s steady girl friend either, at least I didn’t think so. I’m a Tank main, but GF main? Could I even play that role? IRL, I’m taken, but does that even matter in Eorzea?

I ended up dancing most of the night with two of the four friends and having a good time overall. A third danced elsewhere and I had a chance to talk to him before he left. It was his first time at the lounge, and he said it was fun. The fourth danced near us for a bit and I think was trying to get my attention, but I was torn between an ongoing conversation with one and also in the middle of recording video. But mostly I was worried about how to manage the other guys strong interest in me. Eventually the fourth guy left and I have not heard from him. He’s one of my Free Company mates and one of the first friends Losira made, so he’s special to me. But I think I did a bad job of showing it.

This game is doing quite a number on my heart!

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I Need A Hero

I had a lot of fun this past weekend! In game dance parties in Final Fantasy XIV have become a regular thing for me as hundreds of Gigabytes of party videos can attest to! But I’m not here to write about that. This is just a note about a strange dream.

In my dream, I was looking high and low for more information about Paladins. I don’t know why, maybe for a novel I wanted to write? Maybe for my character backstory? I just remember running all over the place looking, only to end up in the library of some unnamed university.

In the library, I encountered what appeared to be a group of guys playing or discussing DnD. I told them what I was looking for and they told me I should learn about Bruce Noble and handed me a thick white reference book. Only after waking up did I realize that Bruce Noble was a pretty silly name and did not refer to any known character. It was just a generic name one might use for any Paladin. LOL

And that’s it. That was my dream. Does it mean anything? I don’t know, but perhaps when I revisit this post in the future, I will have an answer.

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Games and Sports

1st Alt Or 2nd Main?

Losira started as my main character in Phantasy Star Online 2, little over a year ago. She was named for Losira, last of the Kalandans from the Star Trek original series episode, That Which Survives. And she was part of a larger project of mine to project more of my own characteristics, race, gender, etc., onto my game avatars. This was something I had avoided in the past so as not to be a target of harassment in the games I played.

From PSO2, Losira was reborn on the Island of Kalanda in Animal Crossing New Horizons and then later catching them all in Temtem. Most recently, Losira has found a home in Eorzea in Final Fantasy XIV. It is here in FFXIV that Losira has been having the most fun of late. She came to be here because I wanted to experience the party scene in the Primal data center, but my main character is in Aether. So the only option was to start a new character in Primal and level her enough to attend the parties.

Losira loves to dance!

So am I a party girl yet? Hmm depends on who you ask I guess. My Free Company mates probably think a resounding Yes! Leveling Losira has been so much fun and I’ve learned so much! I feel like there’s a lot of me as I am, and as I would like to be inside of her too. So I guess The Losira Project has been something of a success! I’ve had a lot of fun with the parties and it’s brightened the whole leveling process giving me even more motivation to play the game better and better.

Losira knows how to party!

She’s not just an alt, she’s 2nd Main. Her big sister, Loressa, and I go way back though, all the way to Vanadiel, and will always be 1st Main. But that’s a tale for another time.

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Games and Sports General

Stayin’ Alive

It’s been quite a while since my last post! Since that time, I am not only still alive, I think I might in some way be thriving! There’s been plenty of trouble to lose sleep over, but I found more refuge than I had expected to weather the storm.

In particular, I’ve been spending a lot more time in the online game, Final Fantasy XIV. Progressing through the story, placing in the top 100 on my server for the Ishgardian Restoration rankings, and even attending in game dance parties! Eorzea has truly been a refuge for me.

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General

Is This My Last Thanksgiving?

The COVID-19 pandemic is essentially out of control in the United States. I would like to think that things are better in my state of Illinois, but the rising numbers of deaths and infections say otherwise. Tomorrow I travel downstate to bring my son home from U of I for the Thanksgiving holiday.

I’ve been working from home since the beginning of 2020. I only go out as necessary, and always with a mask. I’ve done all of the things that logically one should do to minimize exposure to the virus. Sadly, I cannot really say the same for my children.

They know everything that I know to keep safe, and I have talked to them about it as well. But I also know that I cannot force them to do anything. I’m relying on them to make good choices that also take into account the needs of others. Nevertheless, they’ve had visitors here at home, while I do my best to stay far away.

My wife and I thought it best that our youngest son stay downstate rather than coming home for Thanksgiving. But he wants to come home and he also wants to see other friends as well. He lives in an off campus apartment and his school has been a leader in regular testing and contact tracing. Still that doesn’t change the fact that the most logical thing is to stay put.

I feel like the Pandemic is getting closer and closer, like a hangman’s noose closing on the condemned’s neck. I fear that my children will be the literal death of me. I hope I am wrong.

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Walk of No Joy

My walk was necessary, but gave me no joy. I could see a beautiful day, but did not feel it. It was good to get outside, and long walks have been something I have enjoyed for many years. But in this Pandemic world, the mask on my face only reminds me that all is not well.

I suppose I should be used to it by now, but I’m not. I stay inside, work and game to distraction. Temptation to throw all caution to the wind. But I am too disciplined for that. I will not abandon reason. Now is not the time.

I will walk again. Perhaps I can recapture the joy.

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A COVID-19 Dream of Loneliness

I’m off work today observing the July 4th holiday in the US, so I was able to sleep in a lot longer than usual which I think allowed for a particularly livid dream. In my dream, I had just arrived at a large building, grey with tall columns like a church or temple. I had been running away from some kind of altercation in a parade I was in or passing through earlier. My youngest son was a short distance behind me.

In front of the church, parked in a line of cars was a long black one that looked like a Cadillac hearse. The license plate on the back of it said “Bears Fan”. So I figured a funeral was taking place. I crossed to the church from there and was able to see inside the side of the building. Inside I saw a Black woman bathed in spotlights and dressed in a silky gold jumper and wide brimmed flat topped hat. She was dancing. I could not hear if perhaps she was singing as well.

Nearby, I saw a figure also a Black person and similarly dressed in gold sitting in a high backed chair silently and unmoving, as if watching the performance. I immediately thought that this was the deceased person. At that thought, I was overcome with grief and sadness for someone I had never known who had died all alone.

It was too much. I ran from there wailing loudly and overflowing with tears. The last thing I remember was being in a nearby building crying with my sons around me.

So many people are dying alone during this pandemic.

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Raining In My Soul

I’m feeling a lot of rain and sorrow right now. It’s raining outside, making a mockery of work I did earlier draining the pond. An overworked spouse, hateful white men mocking George Floyd’s death, and storms have forced me to take a step back, away from this day. An artist on Reddit has captured my feelings today.

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Games and Sports

PSO2 Yeeted Itself!

I thought I was pretty lucky to avoid the installation hell that many experienced with the North American launch of Phantasy Star Online 2 on the PC. I guess you can run, but you cannot hide! The game yeeted itself right off my PC while I was looking dead at it! Wow!

So I manually uninstalled it following the instructions here, and am now reinstalling it using the PSO2 Tweaker. Sega and Microsoft really dropped the ball on this launch. I’ve never had any game just uninstall itself like this one did.

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A Phantasy Star Online Universe Escape

I just finished maybe a couple of hours playing Phantasy Star Online 2 on my PC. Sega released the game in Japan back in 2012 and it has just now been released in North America, first on Xbox One and then on PC a few weeks ago. I started playing on Xbox One during the closed beta and now mostly play on my PC to enjoy higher resolution graphics.

I’ve been having a lot of fun with the game. I was amazed how much it drew me in during the beta, maybe because I needed a new distraction from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. It was a ready escape that I was all too willing to take. Even after moving to PC, I still use my Xbox One controller because it just feels right to me.

But current events again have given me pause. The murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police and the explosive protests that have erupted in the United States are a stark reminder that the world can be an ugly place beyond the actions of an impersonal virus.

As a Black American, I feel deep sadness and rage that my life doesn’t seem to matter in this country. And while playing a game gives the relief of a temporary escape, returning to life often brings guilt and depression. I need to do more, but what? Despite the protests, worldwide no less (thank you International brothers and sisters!), I still fear that little will change.

I will press on. I will level up this character, and level up this world so that maybe my grandchildren’s lives will matter.

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Like Waves

Sometimes the sadness just comes from out of nowhere, washing over me like waves crashing on the beach. I don’t know why the sadness comes.