Dungeons and Dragons: a reason to live.

Picture if you will a world of fantasy full of all manner of magic and adventure, a heroic warrior, a crass dwarf, a cunning thief and a wise wizard.  A world only limited by your imagination.  A place where you can create and destroy, fight for right and for plunder, a place made possible in the realm of Dungeons and Dragons.  Now in reality picture a group of friends huddled around a table with a hand drawn map over a grid.  In front of each person is a set of dice and a sheet of paper with their character’s information, its name, its stats, and what it’s able to do.  This piece of paper coupled with a pencil is all that stands in the way of the utter destruction of the player’s imagined world… or it could be the very implement of inhalation.  It is run by a person called the Dungeon Master, who is in control of the rest of the game outside of the actual player’s characters.  They are the one who tells you what is around that corner or in that chest, the one who determines what you will face next.  It sounds like a glorious roll but really it’s like herding cats.

 I was introduced to paper and pencil role playing by my brother-in-law, who is a big nerd.  It was because of him I was even allowed to join up.  I was told I was let in the group because I had experience with character building in video games, specifically Fallout 3, and they were starting a new campaign.  Can you believe that a group of nerds, dorks and all manner of geeks would be exclusive???  Well it’s true, they don’t want a novice coming in and mucking up the gaming experience, and I don’t blame them.  I have played recently with people who didn’t know what they were doing and all I wanted to do was reach across the table and punch them in the face.

What I enjoy most about D&D is getting out with friends and just goofing around.  Now there are those who are in the closet about their involvement with D&D, and to that I say, D&D SAVES LIVES!!!  I rotate from chemo on one Friday to D&D on the other and I enjoy it… the D&D part.  It is almost a therapy for me, a distraction for the horrible experience that is Chemo.  It’s not just the game night but the whole lead up and character creation.  Periodically throughout the week I will go over what my character is able to do and what really motivates him, and that is to just jack crap up...  My wife wanted me to say something about how awesome she is (which I agree with) for letting me go out Friday nights and play D&D with friends and have a normal life… then she said “Wait, normal? HA HA HA!!!”  All my blogs are about how awesome Renee is and she thinks I should follow the trend.

If you are a big dork like those guys I play D&D with and don’t know where you can find a D&D group to try out.  Check out D&D Encounters wich are put on by Wizards of the Coast at a local gaming store.  Just type in your zip code and they will show you where you can join a group and play.  It usually is on Wednesday nights.  There is a lot of work that is put into the campaign’s story and dynamics.  I’m just glad I get to show and have a distraction from cancer. 

Please enjoy this accurate portrayal of a night of D&D.

I'm glad I'm married...

I want to ride my Bicycle.

I like riding my bike.  I miss it a lot.  Reading this guest blogger’s article made me want to gird up my fetching loins and go on a ride.  I really like ridding my mtn bike with Liliana on it.  We just go around the neighborhood, looking at the houses and people nearby, we actually found a nice little park for her.  Rides with here usually take about 10 to 20 mins.  But this week I went on a ride on my road bike… all by myself.  I rode from my house to Wal-Mart and back, totaling 8.5 miles.  Now for all you riders out there this does not seem like a lot but let me tell you, you’re right.  I was never an awesome rider but I was able to ride a 56 miler one time.  I left from here in Escondido went down Del Dios highway to Del Mar, followed the PCH to La Jolla, cut across Mira Mar to Pomerado rd. and took that all the way back to Escondido.  So my little 8.5 miler was not as cool but it is a good start.  I picked up a twelve pack of coke too.

For those of you who don’t know what a century ride is, it is a 100 mile bike ride.  I want to ride a century and there are tons of them here in the San Diego area.  It doesn’t have to be an organized ride, even though the Ocotillo Stage Coach Ride sounds cool.  But as long as I can hit 100 miles in one day that’s all that matters to me.  Does anyone have any tips on how to train for a century ride?  I especially want to ride out in the desert I like it out there better then the coast line.  March 30th is my last chemo treatment and I plan on getting back on my bike for real and go to town.  So if anyone has any good suggestions on some routes I would love know to about them, MOUTAIN TRAILS TOO!!!