Sebastian and the Beach Ball and the Beard

I'm still freaked out, but I might as well try to do some normal posts in the meantime.

Sebastian and I have been spending more time out in the backyard lately. I smack a beach ball high up in the air, and he laughs like crazy and tries to catch it.

He wasn't having much luck, so we practiced by first having him catch the beach ball from a much lower height - only a couple of feet or so. He soon started catching it most of the time. Then I started hitting it higher and higher. The practice definitely improved his catching. And I think it's a good workout for me, too. We're also playing tag in the back yard, using the beach ball to tag each other.

Hmm. Another game we played indoors recently was a variant of the "hide and seek animals" game. He'd just gotten three large toys: Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles (from the Sonic the Hedgehog game - they were on sale at the Mark Stevens CVS outlet store for $2.49). We took turns hiding them around the house, and having the other person search for them. He absolutely loves that game.

* * *

Over the last year or two both Teri and Sebastian have urged me to shave off my beard. I've resisted; I used to say that I was waiting until I lost 100 pounds.

But lately my beard has been turning very white, in patches - it looks terrible! The white hairs grow three or four times faster than the red ones, they're thicker, and seem to resist my trimmer somehow. I have to go back and forth over my beard in several directions to get them, and the results are terrible.

So recently I've been talking about shaving it. Teri told me to go ahead, but I thought I'd ask Sebastian for his opinion as well.

"Sebastian, do you think I should shave my beard today?"

"Off?"

"Yes."

"Completely?!?"

"Yes."

"...yes!...wait a minute." An odd, cute look came over his face. "I think you should lose just a little more weight first."

Teri urged him to change his mind, but he was very determined that I should keep my beard, for now. Of course it's my beard and my decision, but I tend to resist change - sometimes for far too long. I suppose I'll shave eventually.

Sebastian and the Beach Ball and the Beard

I'm still freaked out, but I might as well try to do some normal posts in the meantime.

Sebastian and I have been spending more time out in the backyard lately. I smack a beach ball high up in the air, and he laughs like crazy and tries to catch it.

He wasn't having much luck, so we practiced by first having him catch the beach ball from a much lower height - only a couple of feet or so. He soon started catching it most of the time. Then I started hitting it higher and higher. The practice definitely improved his catching. And I think it's a good workout for me, too. We're also playing tag in the back yard, using the beach ball to tag each other.

Hmm. Another game we played indoors recently was a variant of the "hide and seek animals" game. He'd just gotten three large toys: Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles (from the Sonic the Hedgehog game - they were on sale at the Mark Stevens CVS outlet store for $2.49). We took turns hiding them around the house, and having the other person search for them. He absolutely loves that game.

* * *

Over the last year or two both Teri and Sebastian have urged me to shave off my beard. I've resisted; I used to say that I was waiting until I lost 100 pounds.

But lately my beard has been turning very white, in patches - it looks terrible! The white hairs grow three or four times faster than the red ones, they're thicker, and seem to resist my trimmer somehow. I have to go back and forth over my beard in several directions to get them, and the results are terrible.

So recently I've been talking about shaving it. Teri told me to go ahead, but I thought I'd ask Sebastian for his opinion as well.

"Sebastian, do you think I should shave my beard today?"

"Off?"

"Yes."

"Completely?!?"

"Yes."

"...yes!...wait a minute." An odd, cute look came over his face. "I think you should lose just a little more weight first."

Teri urged him to change his mind, but he was very determined that I should keep my beard, for now. Of course it's my beard and my decision, but I tend to resist change - sometimes for far too long. I suppose I'll shave eventually.

Fixing Things

We're having some guests over soon, so Teri has (inevitably) been going on a cleaning spree. At one point, she asked me to see if I could fix one of the cabinets under the kitchen sink; it would never close all the way. I sat down, took a long look at it, and pulled the lower hinge into a new position. After that, it stayed shut.

It's nice to be able to be handy!

Fixing Things

We're having some guests over soon, so Teri has (inevitably) been going on a cleaning spree. At one point, she asked me to see if I could fix one of the cabinets under the kitchen sink; it would never close all the way. I sat down, took a long look at it, and pulled the lower hinge into a new position. After that, it stayed shut.

It's nice to be able to be handy!

Hackmaster

Sometimes you just have to get silly.

At last night's Hackmaster session, as we were walking towards town, I suddenly had an idea. The Flavor cantrip works on "one object" - but the book doesn't say anything about it actually being edible.

And the spell also doesn't have a duration, which means that the flavor should last forever (or at least until it's eaten).

So suddenly it ocurred to me: why not flavor marbles? You could sell them to kids as - wait for it - Everlasting Gobstoppers! They'd never get used up, and the flavor would never go away.

You could charge a premium price. There would be few repeat sales (unless a kid lost their Gobstopper), but you could sell many Gobstoppers to the same kid by offering different flavors. And you could offer some truly unusual flavors, too! Chocolate. Mint, orange, lemon, lime, cherry...those are obvious. How about beer-flavored Gobstoppers for adults? Or coffee?

Heck, you could make special nasty-flavored ones (Dirt? Poop? Vomit?) for kids to trick their enemies with! Those would need to be sold under the table, of course - wouldn't want to damage public perception of the brand. But you could charge through the nose for them.

The marbles could be specially made, with some sort of mark to indicate the original Gobstoppers (accept no imitations). They'd be color-coded to indicate flavor, of course. You might even be able to sell gem Gobstoppers for the children of the nobility! "I've got a diamond Gobstopper in my mouth!"

Depending on the source (carved marble, or fired and glazed clay) one Flavor cantrip could be used to flavor hundreds of marbles. Ditto for a Color spell, to make the Gobstoppers really stand out.

I went on and on about the topic during the session, and really amused myself. I even changed my name from "Slobberin' Pete" to "Pete, the Candy Wizard". The elf we rescued last time turned out to be a minstrel, so I sent him on his way (he was leaving anyway) with the request that he make up songs about "Pete the Candy Wizard" and his wonderful new treats.

How about gum that never loses its flavor? Why not?

I just may end up as a tycoon, in the game. The Willy Wonka of Hackmaster! :D

Hackmaster

Sometimes you just have to get silly.

At last night's Hackmaster session, as we were walking towards town, I suddenly had an idea. The Flavor cantrip works on "one object" - but the book doesn't say anything about it actually being edible.

And the spell also doesn't have a duration, which means that the flavor should last forever (or at least until it's eaten).

So suddenly it ocurred to me: why not flavor marbles? You could sell them to kids as - wait for it - Everlasting Gobstoppers! They'd never get used up, and the flavor would never go away.

You could charge a premium price. There would be few repeat sales (unless a kid lost their Gobstopper), but you could sell many Gobstoppers to the same kid by offering different flavors. And you could offer some truly unusual flavors, too! Chocolate. Mint, orange, lemon, lime, cherry...those are obvious. How about beer-flavored Gobstoppers for adults? Or coffee?

Heck, you could make special nasty-flavored ones (Dirt? Poop? Vomit?) for kids to trick their enemies with! Those would need to be sold under the table, of course - wouldn't want to damage public perception of the brand. But you could charge through the nose for them.

The marbles could be specially made, with some sort of mark to indicate the original Gobstoppers (accept no imitations). They'd be color-coded to indicate flavor, of course. You might even be able to sell gem Gobstoppers for the children of the nobility! "I've got a diamond Gobstopper in my mouth!"

Depending on the source (carved marble, or fired and glazed clay) one Flavor cantrip could be used to flavor hundreds of marbles. Ditto for a Color spell, to make the Gobstoppers really stand out.

I went on and on about the topic during the session, and really amused myself. I even changed my name from "Slobberin' Pete" to "Pete, the Candy Wizard". The elf we rescued last time turned out to be a minstrel, so I sent him on his way (he was leaving anyway) with the request that he make up songs about "Pete the Candy Wizard" and his wonderful new treats.

How about gum that never loses its flavor? Why not?

I just may end up as a tycoon, in the game. The Willy Wonka of Hackmaster! :D