Triceratops on a flatbed

I rode my bike to work this morning. As I came out of my apartment building I was greeted to a life-size triceratops on a flatbed truck driving by. I guess Storyeum is dismantling their exhibit or something. There was no tarp over it or anything – it was pretty cool and I wanted to chase the truck and jump up and ride the dinosaur.

Weathertop was pretty good. With excellent transit karma, it takes almost exactly an hour to get from my apartment to the King George skytrain station. The Days Inn hotel we used for the con was literally right next to the station. There was a good turnout and I played in the Golden Goblet D&D tournament. Our group came in second. I played a druid who was a wildshape specialist – I could turn into, among other things, a giant octopus, though I never got around to it. I also met a couple new gamers. I played a fellow’s game where he was using the GURPS Transhuman setting with Unknown Armies rules, and though I liked my character (whom I named Tsetse) well enough, most of the time I didn’t know what was going on, as there were a lot of highbrow scifi stuff that I was not versed in. I ran two (different) games of Spaceship Zero and that went over quite well. I even got rid of two of my books to happy fans. And Mike O’Donnell made up a mechanic character named “Rusty Jones” and who looks like Kramer. Fun times.

In one of my SSZ games, this one guy who has played previously was present again. He is weird. I’m sure he has something wrong with him because he doesn’t really say anything, and no matter how much I explain how the dice mechanic he needs help every time. Also he doesn’t really participate much. I think of the scene at the beginning of The Sixth Sense with that naked guy in Bruce Willis’ bathroom. I can’t get into this kid’s head and frankly, that’s okay.

I had this weird sensation right towards the end of the final D&D game I was playing at the con, a sensation I don’t usually have. It probably has something to do with the breakup and the fact that I’m not exactly where I want to be in my life right now. There I was, immersed in the scene of this fantasy roleplaying game and for a moment I realize that in a few minutes it’s going to end, and there’s this overwhelming weight…a cold bucket of water in the face….a realization that I’m going to have to deal with the real world in the morning. For one brief moment it was like D&D was more like a drug than the usual escape comparable to reading a book or watching TV. Maybe this is the beginning of the Basketball Diaries for me, but replace Basketball with Bloodbowl.

And then reality got a little better. This morning I signed a contract to do some design illos for a video game. Very exciting. Tonight I am playing racquetball and then Marlo is helping me interpret my notes from Mandarin class. Plus…triceratops on a flatbed.