02--12--12: Creativity! GO!

day 630

i was worried that the creative aspect was beginning to slip away from me, with the new job and all. i had become preoccupied with the aspect of trying to secure my spot at the plant. i think i took some good steps towards this goal this past week.

for two days, i was alone in my scrapping duties, having to run two forklifts at once for a full eight hours, in non-stop movement. now that part has been rectified, and i seriously doubt that i will ever have to worry about being solo ever again. the oversight has been corrected by staffing. the key thing that i took away from this experience is that nothing was able to stop my determination to do a good job without any mistakes, and this was a huge boost to my confidence. confidence was something that has been at a deficit mostly with some ebb and flow here and there since i started this job. i think the worry is finally over, since i can overcome pretty much anything in my area now.

on Wednesday, i was able to really feel comfortable with other people at the plant, throw a few wisecracks and jokes here and there with the other coworkers. things are returning to normal now for the most part, and my normal pattern of thought is starting to return.

additionally, this past weekend i was off from the job; no forced overtime luckily for me. having said that, i was going to return to my friends' home for a weekend gaming session. unfortunately, due to other family demands ( the daughter's swim meet) they had to change the schedule from sat evening to a sunday day session. now normally, i sleep at this time, and i pretty much concluded that i wasn't going to be able to make it to the game. more than slightly bummed, i realized that my first comvention was now about a week away, and that i hadn't run anything since Gencon back in august of last year. i needed a tune-up, a chance to flex my mind muscles and get ready for Bashcon.

then i realized something: Mr. Joshua Burnett is on the same sleep cycle as me, and i knew that he would be up late on saturday evening. moreover, the last time we saw each other, he mentioned that he wanted to try out "Dread" and he knew that i had it.

a plan began to form...

i had a few Dread scenarios that i had run within the last year or so, and had everything that i needed to run them in the closet upstairs or on my computer. i checked with my wife to make sure it would be alright to leave for the night on saturday evening, and i received her blessing. quickly i sent off a text message to Mr. Burnett about the possible gaming session. he was more than thrilled at the prospect.

i ran my "Welcome to Saw Hill" scenario, a mash-up of elements from Silent Hill and Saw. using my silent hill air raid siren audio file, i was able to really put the players on edge, and the unfortunate demise of Mr. Burnett's character at the middle of the game. following the loose framework of the game, the other two players were able to finish the game without significant incident, though there were some close calls here and there. they even caught some of the references to the actual silent hill franchise, since they had played the games prior to this event.

the game went over very well, and seem to be looking forward to the next installment, whatever that may be, in the future.

i felt the cork that had been on my creativity break loose, and now i'm here, looking at some of the things i have slated for the rest of the year. My Qags-in-a-Bag hits its fifth anniversary next week, and all the stuff i need for that game is sitting out ready to go. i'm also working again on my projects, which i have been completely lacking any interest in completing the past several months. i feel that the worst is finally behind me, now to just prevent any relapse.

Creativity Powers..GO!

MK