new beginnings

Hello everyone. Today has been quite a good day. I met a new friend. My mom drove me out to Sherrway Gardens where Sarah and I spent around an hour and a half in conversation while mom did some shopping and looking around the mall. With both of us needing to coordinate with other people for rides to an from such meetings, we won't be able to see each other too frequently but it should be possible to do sometimes. She appreciates me being patient as she tries to get her thoughts out. I get the sense that a lot of other people don't always take the time to fully understand what she's saying. I got her laughing on several occasions. She's got a perfectly good sharp mind and I can confidently say that I've indeed found a very good friend.

I got all the way out to Battleford today when I tried to practice my route and met an elderly lady who was trying to sell a VCR as well as a fountain. How's that for a strange combination? She had them up on a little table on her driveway. I couldn't remember what I was supposed to do once at Battleford so I decided to turn back at that point. My next lesson is tomorrow.

To top all that off, I hear from Angela, a long-time friend who has now settled in a new house in Woodbridge along with her musical fun-loving husband Tony. Angela's also getting a Trekkor Breeze shortly. I hope to see her for a coffee or something in a couple of weeks or so.

This evening, I listened with delight as the space shuttle Endeavour at last was able to launch successfully. There are now two Canadian astronaughts in space for the first time in history. Damn if that isn't the coolest and I got to hear it live via the internet. It was the first launch I've been able to catch on my new Bose speakers and it sounded absolutely splendid. They'll be docking with the spacestation on friday.

So far, I haven't had any luck at all when it comes to anything more serious than possible new friends. However, Adam, my good friend, has apparently had somewhat better luck there. I treeted him to an Extreme Peta last night and we spent an enjoyable evening playing Civ IV together. Not having insomnia imparing my judgement during this cession, my country performed somewhat better and I've recaptured some of the territory I previously lost. On the down side, I'm currently at war with a couple of countries at once. So far, I seem to be holding my own thanks to my alliance with Adam's ultrapowerful country.

Work on my own game is moving forward again but the book I just finished from MIT press has given me a lot of food for serious thinking. I'm trying to come up with a cast of characters which will divide up the responsibility among one or more players fairly equitably. The player who fills the role of the wizard will still be ultimately in charge but the other players need to have enough scope for their own decision-making within the overarching goles the wizard sets out. Balancing that so that everyone has constant fun is going to be a pretty tall order. It'll probably take some time to come up with a new cast of characters who properly accomplish this. I'm very thankful not to have that sense of utter powerlessness I've suffered with these past weeks. I may be chipping away at a very large iceburg but at least the axe is chipping off small shards from it once again. .