Queen of Swords

It was a good day.

I woke at 6:30am, but I'd gone to sleep early last night after a very good ritual, so I was rested. I did LJ, did some house cleaning, had a great phone conversation with oakmouse, and the Hob showed up for a visit.

We talked for a while, had lunch at Red Robin, and then went to the zoo. Despite it being November, it was pleasantly warm and I walked around without a coat. The grizzly bears -- the whole point of the visit, for me -- were out and active, and I got to watch them for a long time.

Then we went back to my house and spent the rest of the evening talking. He's one of those old friends who "knows everything about you and loves you anyway" and it was really, really nice to just hang out together.

Hob arrived for game on Saturday with two lovely gift bags -- belated birthday presents for me and my daughter from him and jillwheezul.

Hob and I have been friends for more than 15 years now(!!) and he's always been very good with gift selection -- usually more so than the men I've dated. Highlights from this year include an Anne Bonney action figure and Dave Barry's Pirattitude, and a gorgeous bear necklace made by jillwheezul. The necklace has the feel of prayer beads: alternating crystal and small black beads with larger brown-and-black-spiral beads between every group of three. There's a three dimensional, black and brown bear hanging from his own spiral bead, and he can be twirled on his setting. I put the necklace on immediately and wore it to game, and will be wearing it to work today.

jillwheezul had also made simple lace-and-bear-pendant necklaces for both my daughter and _storyteller_ -- which they too both put on immediately. It was only later, looking at _storyteller_'s during game, that I realized the three necklaces marked us as a family.

There were other gifts as well, but the most precious of all were the two birthday cards and what he had written in them. There's no way I could share what he wrote without providing a lot of backstory, but suffice to say they made me laugh and warmed my heart in equal measure, invoking past shared experiences that I will always cherish.

Yesterday morning as I was getting up at 5:30am, I dropped my glasses and could not find them. My daughter was spending the night with her grandparents, so I couldn't ask her for help. I was groping around on the floor for several minutes and simply could not get my hands on them. So I ended up having to go upstairs and ask for help.

I may have legitimate gripes with my Ex-husband, but there are not many people who would suffer being awakened by an ex at 5:45am, come downstairs, find a pair of glasses and go back to bed without uttering a single grumble or grouch. "This is why it's good to live in a community," was in fact what he said.

Today I'm leaving work around lunchtime to head down to Hob's house for his D&D game, in which I will be making a special appearance as a Blackguard (that's a prestige class antipaladin for the geeks and semi-geeks in the audience). Saturday will be Oktoberfest in September. And lots of good conversation.

For those who love Broadway musicals, the movie My Favorite Year, showbiz in any manifestation, and/or Tim Curry, check out the soundtrack to the musical version of the movie. I got it as a $7.99 download from Real.com, and it's one of the best music purchases I've made in ages: lively, funny, and moving by turns.

And last, before I head off to work and then offline for most of the weekend:

My 20 Random Facts (we'll see if I make it to 20)

( I'm Hoping Most of This is New Info )

1. This evening my daughter and I had our overdue Payday-night-dinner-at-California-Pizza-Kitchen. We usually go early on a Friday evening. Today it was 6:30 on a Saturday night. The crew there was going non-stop. Usually when we're in there's a lot of joking, some hanging out around the counter (where we sit), and a more relaxed pace. But we were still greeted with affection as regulars; our usual waitress, who is also the bartender, made the Child a virgin pina colada without being asked; and the drinks the Child consumed -- and my soda -- were not on our check. So we decided to practice Random Acts of Krispy Kreme. We drove a few miles, went through the drive through and bought two dozen, and brought them back to CPK. It was fun and felt good.

2. Sunday morning I am meeting my dear old gaming friend at a gaming con for conversation, lunch, and then watching him and our third member play 7th Sea. (I used to GM our Swashbuckling Adventures campaigns, but we've never played the original 7th Sea system.) I'm looking forward to just hanging out with him, and also brainstorming a character for my one-night-only appearance in the game he's running in a few weeks. It will be my first venture into gaming in several months. He's running an evil D&D campaign. I'm torn between a dark version of my Star Wars Force-sensitive, combat-trained princess, or a pirate. I have yet to be able to actually role-play a pirate.

3. My mom was not happy with me the other night. She is reading Edith Hamilton's Mythology -- a classic, if now dusty, tome. This is a whole new area for my mother. As far as I know, the closest she's been to mythology is old B movies and Disney's Hercules. So she was excited, and trying to share that with me. Unfortunately, my MA minor was in Greek and Roman religion, and I did some focused studies in the religion of the Ancient Near East for my thesis. So when she told me that according to Hamilton everything before the Greeks was human sacrifice and primitivism, I corrected her. Actually, I was correcting Hamilton, but I think my mother took it personally. When she told me that the Iliad was the first written literature, I told her that the Iliad was originally an oral work, and the earliest writing we have is a hymn by Enheduanna, from ancient Sumer, in praise of Inanna.

When I saw Mom's expression, I suddenly realized we were both taking this conversation far too personally. I hastened to ask to look up the copyright date in the book, then pointed out to her that it was a classic -- but dated -- work. I told her that there had been a lot of archeological evidence discovered since 1969 and that Hamilton had written with the best knowledge available at the time. (I don't actually remember when those texts from Sumer were translated and published, but I had to say something to downplay my own careless/unconscious showing off.

I think I made her feel ignorant and stupid, and I really didn't mean to. I take this kind of knowledge for granted, and it's not well known stuff.