Still Alive...-ish

It's been nearly a month since I posted here. Yes, I'm still alive, but now I have been gainfully employed and it's amazing how much less free time I have now that I'm working 40 hours a week.

LoL Dominion is fantastic--maybe I'll try to do a piece on it in the future. I really appreciate the fast-paced action and the fact that last hitting isn't important.

Runescape has had several great quests lately--Branches of Darkmeyer and Ritual of the Mahjarrat.

My job has involved a lot of data downloading, and apparently I have to go work on a report that's due by the end of the month.

Take care all!

What's in a Name

If I had to choose my pseudonym now, it probably wouldn't involve Dragon, because after ten years of being on the internet I think it's definitely one of those cliched names. And Rebel's probably another one...I mean, who honest-to-God puts Rebel in their internet moniker if they're not making a point of saying, "Hey, look at me, I'm a rebel. Rawr." Putting them both together is just...um...pretentious?

But it's really highly personal to me.

The name, Rebel Dragon, didn't evolve for me until sometime in 2005. I was living in Pennsylvania at the time and started writing a story. This story was about someone a lot like me who kept phasing into this other world that involved technologically advanced elves, homicidal squirrels, and a time-traveling fairy. In the first chapter the main character gets chewed by a dragon but manages to kill the dragon from inside it's mouth with a pocketknife, and in the process is transformed into a weredragon. In the nature of all antihero stories, the character fights against turning evil and manages to have lots of adventures.

All this evolved after I had seen Lord of the Rings in 2002, but about a year before I learned how to play Magic and D&D and all the remaining trappings of standard fantasy. If I had, this world of mine may have turned out differently...for one, I was not aware of shapeshifting and intelligence being standard properties of most dragons.

I think at that time the dragon was something I both wanted to be and was also my inner monster that I was striving to be in control of. Much like any werepredator in pretty much any story ever that has any sense of moral decency struggles to not turn into a murder machine. Hence the Rebel.

I referred to the weredragon character as my alter ego.

In 2005 when I made my first Runescape account, I was trying to decide on a name and I tried for Rebel
Dragon. It was taken already and I wasn't able to rename my account that until they implemented the name changing system years later.

If I was to rewrite that story today, it would be different. For one, I wouldn't try to cram all the marvels of my created universe into it at one go.

At the end of Part 1 of the book, the main character dies.

In Part 2, the character is reborn.

But in the Intermission between the two parts, we meet the Dragonling.

Most of the Intermission and Part 2 hasn't been written. I don't know if it ever will be.

The main character has changed. I may have changed.

But Rebel Dragon does not change.

Why God Died

"And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent (Matthew 27:51" 

Most of you are probably familiar with this particular tenet of the Christian faith--God sent His Son Jesus to earth, where he was crucified and rose again, leading to the salvation of humankind.

Traditionally, veil reference in the above verse is seen as God allowing humans to come closer to to Him...but what if that's not the case? What if, instead, it symbolizes God coming closer to humans?

According to the Bible, up until this point, the one thing separating God from humans was that He hadn't died. It's one thing to be a great, omnipotent being with complete control over your creation, and it's another for the same being to become a copy of it's creation and live through the daily struggle of being human.

Death was the ultimate separation. Normally, it's been seen as a negative for us--death separated us from God. But what if it was more--God's absence of death is what kept Him from humans?

What if God had to die so He could truly join with His creation? Maybe He had to come to this world as a human, live and experience life as a human, and, ultimately, die like a human, so He could truly understand us?


What if Jesus' death and resurrection was to bring God closer to us?

RS: 99 Mining

 I haven't talked much about Runescape lately, although it's probably what I've been doing the most of.

This also gave me 2300 lvl overall.

 

Now on to smith and craft.

The Journey, a Poem

Please note that I am open to comments or suggestions concerning my poetry. I'm hardly a professional.

The Journey

Some think that living is made of starts, some when your goals are done;
It’s the glow of a bud, it’s the flush of a win, it’s the burn of a falling sun;

But I think the living is in the path, in what lies over yonder hill:
It ain’t the mountains you have climbed, it’s the ones you’re climbing still.

It’s that moment afloat in time, the space between death and life,
It’s the joy of the chase, it’s the scent of the kill, it’s the moment of the strife;
When the war ain’t over yet, and you’ve got naught but your will,
It ain’t the battles you have won, it’s the ones you’re fighting still.

It’s that moment before the prize, it’s the chasing of a dream;
It’s the fall of a star, it’s the rise of a soul, it’s the fight of a scream;

Before the end of everything, before your visions are fulfilled;
It ain’t the road you’ve traveled by, it’s the ones you’re traveling still.

12:16pm 7/30/11

Interview with Counting Pennies

Recently, a friend of mine has decided to go public with her blog. I asked to interview her as a way of introducing her blog to my readers. Her blog is at Counting Pennies. Check it out!

Bacon & Betelgeuse: Why Counting Pennies?

onelovingsister: Let's see. I have a thing about pennies. My boyfriend and I would always exchange pennies. Kinda random. Anyways, I was thinking I would probably be doing a lot of waiting in the next few years....and you know how when you're trying to make time pass....like to go to sleep or whatever you start counting things? Like counting sheep? Except pennies instead. :) My mom suggested it actually and that's why I decided to go with it.

B&B: Describe yourself; who do you think of yourself as. what is your self identity?

onelovingsister: I am a girl who has a lot of dreams and a lot of potential. What I want and what others want for me rarely line up. Sometimes I feel I lose myself in the struggle to be what I SHOULD be according to everybody else and what I WANT to be when the day is done. I love to write poetry, but I'm not that good at it. I love cooking and kids and best friends. Math is one of the things that keeps me going every day....math...and my mom. That is my biggest goal in life. To be a mother, but we shall see. I would say the single most defining aspect of my character is my faith. Jesus is the single most important person in my life and I hope to keep it that way. Always. Also, I am a hopeless romantic and I am in love.

B&B: Why did you decide to start a blog?

onelovingsister: Last fall, when my bf transferred schools and subsequently broke up with me, I found myself really struggling, emotionally, academically, even physically, to cope with my feelings. I spent a lot of time very very depressed. My grades started to suffer and I ended up needing to spend a lot of time talking to some close friends, my mom, and one of my professors. I realized that, for me, verbalizing how I felt helped me work through my feelings, a little bit at a time. I posted my stuff on Facebook at first, but then I felt a little bit uncomfortable with that because many of my posts were pretty personal. That's when I decided to start a blog. It's my own little place to bare my heart to the world.

B&B: Speaking of personal, why have you recently decided to make your blog public?

onelovingsister: I don't really know. I'm still not ready to have it on Facebook. I guess I just feel like it's time to...hmmm...move on? Perhaps that's not quite the right way to put it. As I mentioned earlier, this whole blog thing stemmed from personal issues I was dealing with. I guess I had always thought they were sort of short term issues? Things I would get over pretty quickly. That I would be able to resume my "normal" life soon. Well, I've come to realize it's not going to be like that. I'm in love and I'm waiting and I think I'm going to be doing that for quite a long time and it's okay to acknowledge that and accept that and share that. It's not something I need to cover up or hide from everybody or be ashamed of. It's just how it is. Yes, most of my friends think I'm stupid and crazy and I completely understand where they are coming from, but this is something I feel God is calling me to. So I guess I'm just ready to open up a little bit. Besides, I like to share. :)

B&B: What do you do when you're not writing?

onelovingsister: Ahhh....now that's easy. When I'm not writing, I am working or sleeping or eating or cooking or working out. :) Work consists of studying for school, doing math research, or lifeguarding at my school's pool. I usually do not get enough sleep. I generally eat to much. I love to cook and bake, but only for other people. I do not like to make food for myself. I love to turbo kick (you should try it!) and actually recently got certified as an instructor. I also love swimming. Sunshine and water make me happy. :) However, my number one favorite thing to do when not writing is going to the beach with my friends and family. I love to hang out with the people I love and the beach just can't be beat. :D

B&B: Anything you'd like to add, or any questions you would like to be asked?

onelovingsister: I would like to add that you are one of the reasons I first considered blogging as my "outlet" and that I really enjoy reading your non-gaming related blog posts. :) Oh! And readers should never hesitate to comment! Even when my posts seem pretty personal or sensitive or whatever. Comments are fun.

B&B: Well, I've run out of questions. Pleasure interviewing you, and may your blog receive many hits!

onelovingsister: haha. thanks! :D

Well, there you have it. Check out the blog at Counting Pennies and see for yourself.

P.S. If any of you other blog writers want to be interviewed for this blog, either post in the comments or email me at baconnbetelgeuse@gmail.com

Playing Games at Playing God

If you've watched any number of movies or read any number of books, you're bound to run across this situation. The good guy has a chance to kill the bad guy, thereby saving any number of innocent lives and millions in property damages and says something to the effect of, "I will not kill this Evil Bad Guy, Slaughterer of Cities and Eater of Babies, because I am not God, and it is not up to me to decide whether this man lives or dies."

That is bullcrap.

So maybe the good guy isn't supposed to shoot Mr. Evil Bad Guy in the brainpan and eliminate the need for seventeen sequels, but the whole "I-am-not-God-I-don't-make-this-choice" is complete horsepucky and an insufficient excuse for not saving all those innocent lives from serving as Mr. Evil Bad Guy's cannon fodder.

We are God every day of our lives. Every day, we choose to not stab those closest to us. We choose to not run over that stupid jaywalking pedestrian who chooses to cross the road directly in front of us. We choose to not walk into our place of school or work and blow up the place. In the last case, it may be due to a lack of access to explosives but the other two situations are easily encounterable. While we may be horrified by the thought of plowing over said stupid pedestrian, it doesn't mean the power over someone's life did not rest in our hands in that moment of time.

We do play God to other people. We just tend to choose that they should live--to play the gods of good. Sure, there are consequences in this society to choosing that they should die, but if we did make said choice, the target of our decision would still be dead, and we would have chosen death for that person.

Psychos and other murderers and abusers are those who choose to play the gods of evil.

But we're all gods. At least, when it comes to life and death and other people.