Posting this so I don't lose the link: d20 Modern, The Full Monte

They have a zipped, downloadable version right there on the front page.

For those baffled by this, ( geeky prattle follows. )

A week or so ago, during the holiday retail frenzy, quelonzia got a pack of hot dogs and buns. Originally, she planned to build an official dinner around them, but decided that they were better-suited for quick, fast meals. This was a nice idea, since I was working crazy hours.

Shortly thereafter, I came home exhausted, after everyone else had eaten dinner, and needed something. The Fire of My Heart said, "You can have a hot dog!"

The Grandspawn replied, "No, he can't. They're all gone."

Quel had had two. I'd had none.

(This is a recurring phenomenon, incidentally. Whenever we get something simple and easy to prepare, to use as meals when people are pressed for time or don't feel like cooking, the Grandspawn considers it fair game as snacks, and will rip through the whole stash before anyone else has a chance to get any.)

So, today, I went to Smart & Final (the bulk food store), one of the few local purveyors of Quelonzia's Incurable Addiction, and saw that they had my favorite brand of Cheap-But-Substantial Hot Dogs, Bar S. 16 dogs to a package, three pounds of meat, $4.99 -- and each dog is both larger and more flavorful than your ISO Standard Oscar Mayer.

They have three kinds: Polish Sausage, Smoked Sausage... and Hot Smoked Sausage.

I got the Hot Smoked Sausage. They're tasty. (Of course, I'm the only one who thinks so.)

When I got home, I opened the package up to fix myself one. Because the package doesn't seal by itself, I slid the whole thing into a Zip-Loc bag.

Unfortunately, in the process of opening it, I just happened to snip off the part of the label that says "HOT".

"Oopsie."

Hey, I've never claimed to be the grown-up.

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Update: Younger Stepdaughter also likes the spicy smoked sausage. She suggested having it for dinner tonight -- and has no intention of warning her stepspawn. She didn't get any of the last batch of hot dogs, either...

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Odd. I've made light NaNoWriMo in years past -- honestly, I've outright mocked it. However, it just occurred to me that this year, in my own peculiar way, I actually participated.

I've had a mental block as a GM for several YEARS now, in no small part because of poor preparation skills. For last part of of November, however, I've been busily writing away, hammering out the background for a one-player superhero game I'll be starting tomorrow.

I'm sure I haven't gotten anywhere near 50 kwords, and it's more a series of timelines and outlines than prose -- but that's what one needs for a game setting. I've come up with interesting characters, long-term plot twists, and dramatic scenes, both as backstory and to be played out as the game progresses. In the last three days, I had a surge of inspiration, tying together three or four disparate elements and themes and bringing them together into one grand, intricate scheme.

And the oddest thing?

This is all building on notes and ideas I worked on last November... only to set them aside at the end of the month as other ideas took center stage.

I've fallen off the caffeine wagon again.

Yes, thanks to a 70-mile commute and a propensity to doze off at the keyboard -- and behind the wheel -- in the afternoons, I've succumbed to the siren lure of fresh, strong coffee in the morning, punctuated by the occasional cup of jasmine tea during the day.

For now, I'm still in the "WHEEEE! I'm alert and active and brimming with brilliant ideas!" stage, but any day now, it's gonna turn into the "God Damn It Where Are My ****ing Keys Why do You People HIDE Shit From Me? AAAARGH!" stage.

Maybe.

On the other claw, since I'm working, I've actually got an outlet for the drug-induced energy and focus.

And I don't get The Crave for it on the weekends, though I sleep pretty soundly.

On the gripping hand, I was disproportionately pissed when I got home earlier this week, and the phone and broadband were down, and oh LORD, you don't want to hear me when I get home to find that someone's parked in my usual parking place (every. day. this. week.) and I have to try to parallel-park my little no-power-steering Aspire.

For right now, though, I'm upbeat and happy and feel like singing and dancing pretty much all the time!

And boy, do I feel guilty about it....