A Window, A Light...

Well, I flew down to St. Louis to, among other things, make Archon. Of course, if you consider the time I had at the convention and the cost of the things I brought back with me by themselves, I doubt it'd really be worth it. Besides being able to say that I did it, though, I really had my own reasons for returning. Not that I didn't have a good time, because I really did. It was a pretty great weekend, but when I left, I really can't say that I was completely stable yet. Coming back, even for a little while, gave me a much clearer idea of the place that I actually left, rather then my perception of things as I was flying away from it.

I'm not really missing the geography, in particular and I am still pretty enthusiastic about the Seattle area, (I'll probably be more enthusiastic once I've got a sounder ride. It's really pretty inconvenient to rely on other people for rides, not to mention trying for others.) but I was glad to be back for a while. I really wished that I had been able to pre-register, maybe get a room or something, and stay a little longer. It's really a product of circumstances then anything else. Considering the circumstances, I still think I did pretty well. ^_^

I'm kind of thinking that Archon gets tamer every year. On one hand, there's a little less rampant destruction (and I don't recall seeing the ambulance there this year) but on the other, I've always kind of enjoyed the spectacle. And, I dunno, if I was a little more pro-rampant destruction this year, who's to say? I was pretty enthusiastic about Wormtongues costumes this year, and if I could have gotten the vulcan costume, I think I would of, even if it's not really my thing. Bringing a liquor type for every alien race was pretty much the best part of that getup, though. As for me, there's always next year. If I can manage a good cosplay or costume, I really think I might. It's kind of a drag that I've never been able to manage much along those lines until right about now, but that's the way it is.

So, coming back has kind of me thinking about how I feel about moving in the first place. I'm still pretty positive about being here in the first place, but I'm still considering how I feel about what I'll do in the future. As it stands, though, I had a really good time. I'd kind of like to come back more often, but I'm not really gonna be able to afford that. Really, where I'm at now is waiting to see what my budget looks like and seeing what I want to do. It's pretty hard to say at the moment.

I can has it.

So, after all the anxiety, the whole thing was a success, and I got a call today at around 5-ish saying that I got the position. Off and on, I tried writing various 'woot'-oriented posts, in which would have contained the core of both my exuberance as well as my ruminations about what this meant for me both now, and in the future.

Anyhow, this is a fairly big moment for me.

I feel strangely sedate about the whole affair, and I'm fairly sure that it's 'hit' me by now, so that's not it. The feeling is a little like a relieved 'it's about time, this is what I was trying to do the last few times', which is also true. At this point, I'm not a stranger to working full time, and I'm not a stranger to paying fixed expenses, looking for a new vehicle, or taking care of myself. The biggest things that are new is that I'm looking at what is potentially the most significant work-complexity level I've seen to date, and that I can expect a significant standard of living boost. Even the first of those two statements is questionable, because there was a considerable amount of in-depth detail to remember about proprietary systems and other issues surrounding Circuit City.

The other issue is something I'm a wee bit torn about. It means, in a real way, that I can expect to live away from Fairview Heights and the St. Louis area for at least a year, and that I need to finish what I started regarding transition. It makes sense that I didn't move over my bank accounts, my permanent Cam status, even my car, to the area before because there really wasn't a promise that I'd be staying. Now, I know that I will be, so these things suddenly must be resolved. There's a finality there that there wasn't in actually receiving the position.

So I guess that's the thing. I got the job! And I've been gone for two months, but the reality of moving sinks in, which is bittersweet.

I had a good evening last night. Really unhealthy food, but hey, I was dying for something with chili on it for a long time. I don't know if you're been privy to this rant yet, but in short, if I order something with chili on it, chili needs to cover it. No lame cups of chili. Still, man, that chiliburger was massive. You know what that means.

Lunch tomorrow. Or, rather, today. I totally ate the rest of that burger, so it's healthy eating for the rest of the week right?

Oh snap. It's Friday. So let's reset that timer, shall we? ^_^
Still, I lost some muscle weight and gained some fat weight, so I shouldn't take that too far. Walking and various exercises should clear up some of the lost muscle weight. I'm not going to worry too much about having put on weight though. I'm more concerned about the sedentary lifestyle I'd been working on for several months. Activity is definitely increasing my energy level.

Anyhow, it was my first trip into the city, which was fun. I mean, there's a subtle difference between Seattle and St. Louis besides hills and trees, and it's heavily dependent on the area. The truth is, I like a lot of areas in downtown St. Louis and the like, but crossing the floating bridge but day and night was pretty.

I finally got around to ironing out Atol on the spreadsheet, spending the banked xp that I'd earned from games and the bump to MC 3. The results are really pretty stunning with just a few bumps. Still, I had a few things go from 3 to 4, and a level 3 Rote, so I'm going to need to ask around and do a little OOC legwork to make sure its kosher. Nothing seems off about it, and the only thing I did that might surprise anyone is totally forgoing the Fame merit at all, since part of the IC dialog I had last game revolved around how Atol was leaving on a musical pilgrimage of sorts because he couldn't get his sound right and his band never took off. (Several band members left, in game, so.)

I'm doing the NPCs for the Exalted game, and kind of like how straight-forward the Dragonblooded Charms are compared to Solar or, especially, Sidereal Charms. They have the smallest Essence pools, so over a long period, their Charms are designed to be as efficient as possible, so you see a lot of '1 Mote per X' costs in their Charm trees. Without looking harder at the overall mechanics, I think the DB book is one of the best and most flavorful.

After working with the Mage and Camarillia spreadsheets, though, I kind of wish someone had done the same thing for 1st Ed. Exalted but since there never was a LARP for Exalted, there's not a lot of call for it.

Well, I'm in Seattle, hanging out at Brantai's place. I've made a point to, somewhere, write my thoughts on what's going on and get some 35mm film, because the camera that viski had gotten me is still significantly better then the cheap digital camera I had access to, even if the digital was easier to upload.

I've got a journal, a blog, and a camera. So there.

The flight was both awesome and dull. I love flying, but it's not the experience it was. It's a third of a cup of soda and a tiny bag of peanuts, and the stewardess thought she was a comedian. But by and large, everything went smoothly and I even got a chance to grab a bite to eat in the terminal. We mostly flew over farmland, which is interesting in that it's laid out in giant squares, many of which are squaring a massive circle so that the ground below resembles more a child's collection of spilt Pogs then any kind of amber wave of grain. As we approached Denver, it was mostly just flat and brown, but crossing the mountains was really impressive. Giant, gray-brown peaks with snowy crevasses, I really had no sense of scale because there was nothing to compare them to but other, smaller mountains. The cabin grew chilly and I noted the mountains seemed much closer then the buildings we left had since takeoff.

Landing in the area was mostly the same as landing everywhere. The same chain restaurants in the terminals and the same struggling with baggage claim as some 10 yr. old inevitably climbs on the turnstile that say "Do Not Climb". I received a warm welcome from from everyone, and he took today off so he could hang out and get me acclimated to the area. I haven't seen much of the area, but the apartment is really nice, and it seems pretty pleasent, so I'm looking forward to getting around.

The downside? I finished Idoru long before I made it to Seattle, so I exhausted my computers batteries reading Exalted books, then had to read the in-flight magazine. >_>