So, the snow’s back. Not a whole lot, but it’s there.

I admit, sometimes I get picky about the weather. I know I shouldn’t, since I come from Oregon and it rains a whole lot there, but sometimes sudden changes get… annoying. Most of the blizzard snow was already melted, the sun was up and the cute fuzzy animals were out and about, and then we get more snow and slush to worry about. No yay. Spastic weather gets on my nerves, like you’re waiting for something and it immediately changes and you’re just like “Aw, come on!!! :(”. I like things to be straightforward; if you say something is supposed to happen, I accept that it will happen, but if you change it on me at the last instant I am not going to be too happy. The weather just doesn’t seem to understand that… meh, I probably shouldn’t complain; it isn’t snowing right now, and most of it is melting away.

Just wish it would stay away.

In other news, we’ve got one last play coming up for this season. It’s based off of the movies of Charlie Chaplin, which means that aside from live music and whatever sounds the actors make there will be no dialogue. At all. The Little Tramp never spoke, so why should we who will be emulating him? I think this is a further example of how great Wabash is; we push the limits of what we do, and we are not afraid to try new, exciting things. I for one am really looking forward to this play, whether I get in or not, because I know that with the skill and passion that our directors and actors have that it will be an amazing performance. And a play with no dialogue? That sounds pretty cool, and I’m sure it will be fun.

I will have last BLOOD!

…

Okay, explanation time.

Last night I saw the production of Macbeth (it’s written and not in a theatre, so curses don’t apply), and I have to say I enjoyed myself immensely. Not to say that I thought it was going to be bad; I know we have a bunch of incredibly talented actors and directors here on campus (and off campus too. Not all of our actors are guys). But you see, I am an actor myself, so seeing a school-type play that I am not in is a newer experience for me, especially one like Macbeth.

I’ve seen Macbeth before back when I think I was in middle school. It was being performed at a college where my dad was working as a financial advisor, and they had changed things up a bit by moving it from Scotland to Japan, so they were dressed in Japanese style clothing and had katanas instead of claymores. This is not a bad thing; directors often choose to move the action from one place to another, so they can go for different viewpoints and aesthetics that would be unachievable in a traditional performance. This gives the play a unique feel to it, and we get a much more satisfying viewing experience. Personally, I performed a version of Much Ado About Nothing that was set in the ‘20s, and I think it went pretty well.

Anyway, the play; so, Macbeth is a general who goes out and kills things, and one day on his way home from killing things he meets three witches that say he’s going to be king. He blows them off at first, but begins to consider their prophecy when everything starts going good for him. So to show his gratitude to the current king, he kills the guy in his sleep and proclaims himself king.

Yay.

After that, Mackers starts getting increasingly paranoid, killing off his friends and his potential enemies’ families to make sure his position is secured. The exiled prince and England don’t really like that, so they dress up like trees and go attack Scotland. MacB thinks he’ll be okay, since “no man of woman born” can hurt him, but Macduff was born via C-Section, so he doesn’t count. Macduff kills MacScottish Dude and the exiled prince becomes king… at least until Banquo’s son overthrows him and becomes king in the sequel (if there was one).

Yay.

The actors in our production were superb, portraying enough emotions and psychopathy to give the characters plenty of depth. The set itself is beautiful, dark enough to give off a haunting atmosphere yet detailed enough that it keeps your attention. And they did not rely on a lot of flashy lights and stuff like that; just enough red and blue to keep the haunting atmosphere… well, haunting.

So for Wabash types that are reading this, go see Macbeth. For those of you that might come to Wabash, we’ve got cool stuff that you should go see. For those of you who can’t come to Wabash… ha ha.

You know what the best kind of drinking games are? The ones where you don’t actually drink anything and spend more time trying to screw over your opponents.

Before you get the wrong idea, let me explain; last night, Dork Club collaborated with shOUT for a gaming night. I might not agree with some of the things shOUT represents, but that doesn’t matter; what does matter is that we are a bunch of Wabash men getting together for a couple of games, some soda and pizza. I think that’s another thing I like about Wabash; we are polite and intelligent enough to set aside our differences long enough to have some fun and do productive things with one another. We exchange cards instead of ideologies, dice rolls instead of insults, and the worst arguments we get in are over whether or not Card A interrupts Action B. On the gaming table, everyone is equal (except for heretics and xenos. All shall burn in the light of the Emperor).

I spent the first few minutes just milling around, eating pizza and drinking soda. Afterwards, I settled down for a few rounds at The Red Dragon Inn, and that’s where my introduction comes into play.

Red dragon Inn is a pretty fun game. The premise is that you take the role of an adventurer in a fantasy world (think Dungeons and Dragons), however the adventure is already over and you and your buddies decide to go to the local tavern for drinks and games. Using your abilities and a pile of cards representing the bar, your goal is to drink your opponents under the table without passing out or going broke in the process.

Understand, this is all in good fun, and nobody actually gets hurt. If anything, we spent more time making Monty Python jokes than anything that could be considered rambunctious.

Anyway, the first round saw me as a Wizard (and his rabbit familiar named Pooky). I was still getting used to the game, so after losing most of my gold in a gambling match I had to work very hard to not get knocked out. Fortunately for me, the dwarf in our party had worse luck than me and had to bow out on account of having no money, followed later by the bard who had a severe case of “being targeted by the other members”. Sadly, my luck ran out and I lost the last of my money and was forced to leave the table. I took the time to finish setting up my Space Marines as a bit of a showpiece, while back at the table Professor Porter’s Half-Ogre ended up winning the round (yay for him).

With that round finished, and after a brief pause for snacks, we started a new round. I chose to play as the Elven Priestess (because you can’t argue with Elves), and did my best not to repeat the mistakes of my last round. I think I did pretty well, choosing to convert a few people and pray rather than gamble, and I did help knock the Thief out of the round. However, the Priestess is not very good at redirecting her drinks, so I ended up passing out towards the end of the game (although I did much better than I thought I would. Once again, Professor Porter won (this time playing as a human Warrior/ Barbarian) and as it was getting rather late I packed up my things and headed back to the house.

I think that when different clubs and groups can mingle with one another, we really get a chance to grow. Wabash is all about moving beyond normality and embracing new things, and it’s about being a gentleman and acknowledging that there are people out there that might not agree with you on some issues, but are willing to come together for food and games. Connections are what make people, and if we start connecting with one another then maybe we wouldn’t have so many disagreements.

Got a call from my mom and girlfriend today. We just talked about a few things, I won’t go into details, but the important thing is that they called. It’s wonderful to hear their voices and get to have a meaningful conversation with them, which I think is lost a lot these days.

I’ve highlighted my woes towards technology in my Christmas Blogs, but just so I don’t sound like too much of a backwards “Puritan”, let me say that all technology is not inherently evil. I write a lot, and not just my blogs, and if it weren’t for the Internet I would have never discovered Avatar, Warhammer 40K or many other things I have grown to like. I think my life has improved from these things, and it has certainly helped my creativity.

That being said, all the Element Bending and Super Soldiers in the world cannot replace interactions with real, physical people. I might be introverted at times, but I enjoy talking to people and getting to know them. And there is quite a lot that can be learned just by listening to someone talk; you can learn their emotional makeup, their verbal tics and personality just through their voice and the conversation you have with them.

It’s a lot harder to learn anything through social media.

As a writer I’m good as channeling character emotions through conversation and dialogue, but when I’m speaking to someone on Facebook or texting I cannot make motions to emphasize my words or change the inflections of my voice to hint at worry or sarcasm. For people who know me well it’s easier, but suppose it was someone I didn’t know? How would they know when I’m just joking or when I’m being serious? The answer is, most often they don’t, and thus I have a very good chance at offending someone when I try to be funny or sympathetic. And that’s terrible… Superman references aside, it really is. How many friendships were wrecked because someone tried to break up with someone else over Facebook or text?

Also, one of the biggest problems of social media is that you have to spend a lot of time staring at a screen. I’ve already displayed my distaste for people spending too much time on their electronic devices and not enough time talking, so I won’t repeat my rant, but it’s still a relevant issue. Screens and isolation are bad, and you need to spend time less isolated from other people and getting to know them, face to face.

Social media can be helpful, but not for use all the time. Nothing beats genuine human interaction, as it reminds us that there are still people out there and we still have to have human emotions with one another. So I encourage you all to go out and talk to someone face-to-face, be they friend or relative; you’ll feel much better and more connected to the world.

I’m not going to say what I got, because my girlfriend might be reading this and I don’t want to spoil anything.

Anyway, Valentine’s Day. For me, it’s both a good thing and a bad thing. It’s a bad thing because I’m over here and all my family and loved ones are back in Oregon, so I can’t really talk to them or spend a lot of time with them except for the brief moments of skype or Facebook IMs. That makes me sad, because I would like to spend more time with them.

On the other hand, Valentine’s Day is a good thing because I can spend time recollecting on why I love my family. They’ve supported me, encouraged me to do the best I can (although sometimes it feels like there’s some disconnect between what I feel is my best and what everyone expects to be my best. I chalk it up as normal stress, but sometimes it feels like a giant sky bison is fighting a lemur while being cheered on by

It makes sense in context… also, Chakras

sheep and then a six armed Indian guy floats by and sings about Chakras… okay, I’m getting distracted). Anyway, my parents are awesome, and my whole family is awesome. I might not see them a whole lot, but I’ve gotten to thinking “Well, I might not see them a whole lot, but that means that I have to make the time that I am with them as special as possible”. and that’s what matters in the end; that we spend as much time with the people that we love, and even if we don’t have a lot of time together we get a chance to make it really special.

If this is sounding depressing, I blame the weather. I like snow and all, but I don’t like having to walk around in it day after day, always having to be careful in case there black ice somewhere beneath the snow drifts (although seeing the “snow gophers” is always amusing. I’d get some pictures, but they’re camera shy). I heard we’re supposed to get 50 degree weather and rain next week, and my inner Oregonian is going “yay” because admittedly I have more experience with rain than snow (and I won’t have to worry about slipping on ice). So to all potential Wabash students out there reading this blog, if you love snow I’d say come here to Wabash, if you don’t… well, still come here to Wabash, because Wabash is awesome and the snow will melt eventually.

Oh, more Valentine’s stuff. One thing I don’t care for about Valentine’s Day is the mass commercialism that seems to permeate 99% of all holidays. I do not enjoy seeing copious amounts of pink and red merchandise bombarding me, and I especially don’t like the heart shaped chalk they call candy and the magazines that tell you to “spice up your love life”.  I find it insulting that companies will browbeat and push people into accepting their definition of beauty. It’s even more insulting if a guy tries to make his girlfriend see things in the way that the magazine advertises; my girlfriend is perfect the way she is, and I don’t want her to change into some “idealized” definition of beauty because then she wouldn’t be the girl I know and care about.

Anyway, Happy Valentine’s Day. Stay true to yourself, love each other, don’t run with your spears and enjoy your time with your family.