Is 47 Ronin an Homage to Asian Themed RPGs

Over the past week, I was able to sit down and watch 47Ronin—the one with Keanu Reeves starring as a Tengu-raised hero turned samurai. While watching the movie, I could not help but thinking how much the story reminded me of a roleplaying game adventure. I do not apologize for the spoilers I am about to throw out there. Instead, I only warn that they are coming.

We start with a young hero from a mysterious past. He has no family to speak of and people believe he is at least part demon. He is adopted into an honorable samurai clan where his skills cannot be ignored, however, he is not of the samurai bloodline and is thus treated almost as a non-person. We see the kitsune/witch working with the enemy, Lord Kira. The would-be heroes are firsts tripped of title, rank, and dignity. During a year’s exile in a filthy pit, Oishi meditates and comes to a new understanding on the world and everyone’s place in it. He seeks out Kai, who has apparently levelled up a few times since we last saw him. The two go through a sword swinging, high leaping, random fire burning chase through an island of pirates and thieves before returning to the mainland and gathering and inspiring the rest of their forces. Watch the final battle and see how several pieces all work in conjunction with one another for it to work. In fact, it ignites most when someone just barely misses their roll on an archery check. We have magic. We have swords. We have larger than life heroes with a little bit of witty banter and a soul-wrenching ending. How is it not a roleplaying game set in Feudal Japan?

Okay, the legends may have been a little off. The armor and style of dress may have been overly contrived. Bottom line: there may have been some details that were less than 100% accurate. This doesn’t really change the enjoyment factor and only serves to make it more like an Oriental Adventures setting. One such campaign world I have only barely gotten to try out and look forward to playing more of is Heroes of the Jade Oath.

Rite Publishing Heroes of the Jade Oath

Yes, And...

Admittedly, I really struggled with coming up with a title for this blog post. I settled on a term that many gamers and GMs love to toss around these days. I can’t count the number of times +Jerrod Gunning  has used it while describing gaming and running styles. He’s also used numerous times in the handful of games I have been luckily enough to join in while he was running. Yes, Jerrod runs a lot of games, but my schedule tends to be a bit goofy. Anyhow, moving right along.

I was fortunate enough to sit in on a play test of D&D Next being run by +Tom Morris . I’ve had the playtest documents and played a few games, but everything had trouble getting off the ground. Tonight, I was a little late to join in the fun myself, but I was invited to sit back and watch. +Cavin DeJordy  was there with his natural impishness—he’s a lot more macabre in game than I remember. Then, +Shoe Skogen  was playing a character that was just downright brutal. +Lloyd Gyan was there with a proper and studious healer. The fray exploded early amongst these and other players.

I realized a few things here. Over the years, I have played an enjoyed a great many games—everything from Dungeons & Dragons Advanced Second Edition to Rifts (yes, I put them next to one another on purpose), Rolemaster, Fate, and so many more. Over time, my tastes have changed somewhat and in some cases, it was really because I didn’t know what I wanted. I found on more than one occasion I found an RPG I didn’t know I loved until I tried it, like asking someone if they enjoy chocolate when they have never had it. +Joshua Macy's SFX is a perfect example of this.

With DnD 3x, I enjoyed feats and skills, but it became clunky. I later experimented with +Mark Knights  running Pathfinder and I finally realized why I moved away from d20. D20 and DnD are built off a single, simple rule, a roll of a d20. However, there are literally hundreds of rules exceptions. Fate Core came out and I enjoyed it, but there was a lot of applications of rules—it was like peeling back an onion. With SFX! everything revolved around “does this makes sense?” Genius!

My point is, I’ve been trying a lot of games out over the past year and I have seen what I live versus what I don’t like. What I have really been doing is testing systems to see what they could and couldn’t do. I really wanted to push the envelope for what I was used to seeing in tabletop games. I wanted the high flying cinematics without having to memorize a thousand rules or find a way to make it work within a system—have it just work out of the box with just a roll or two, without and fudging or modifications. The cool trailers we see for video games—yeah, that’s what I want our characters to do…all…the…time.

Take a look here for a perfect example of what I mean (especially the archer dude near the end):

Watching this game of D&D Next get played, however, I was seeing the exact opposite. Testing out rules, you play a system as designed. You ignore the golden rule of gaming to “use what you want and discard the rest.” I heard more than once that the system simply wasn’t designed to do what the players wanted it to. Players pleaded with the DM for another player to be able to do something just because it would be cool. They worked something out, she did. It was awesome. They tried to encourage it to be more awesome and my take away line for the night was “There are no suplexes in Dungeons & Dragons.”

Meanwhile, I look at games like Fate where people are supposed to have fun making their characters and what their characters do “more awesome.” SFX is build the same way. The difference being in Fate, there are some pretty solidly established ways to do things. In SFX, you determine your desired end result and roll for that, everything else is just window dressing. +Adam Dickstien has a modified version of D&D he’ll hopefully run for me soon that, every time I hear about it, it makes me drool. He says that your characters are supposed to be mythic fantasy heroes. Meanwhile, D&D is often built more around what you can’t do.

At the same time, I heard a lot of meta gaming going on in the D&D Next play test. The healer of the group was trying to figure out how many hit points his companions had so that he could do cool stuff. Fate suffers from this a bit as well, as you make decisions based on Fate points. That’s thinking out of game. As Macy will tell you, just as in SFX, gaming should be done from the character’s perspective. What would they do or what would it make sense for them to do in certain situations? You shouldn’t be worried about this otherwise non-existent arbitrary facets that are included by the rules. Now, I still like to roll, so I’m not a diceless roleplaying guy. I don’t enjoy Gossamer & Shadow or Fiasco. I do, however, enjoy being in the moment and not worry about how many HP or or power points my character has and dealing with some archaic, otherwise intangible currency.

So, “yes, and…” makes a lot more sense to me now than it did way back when. I’m seeing the flaws in the games I grew up with. I still enjoy them for what they are, but I also find myself looking toward what else there could be. I have taken situations and videos to GMs and designers from different games. How would you do this with XYZ system? I get answers like it can’t be done or that you have to either ignore certain rules or follow a laundry list of rules that add so much table rolling, you can easily get lost. Then, I also get answers like “that’s easy, just blah, blah, blah.” So far, however, the only one that has really held true and made sense for me is SFX’s rule of “does it make sense.” Trying to work that into other games now, and I’ll have to see how the players respond to it, because it does require a certain bit of arbitrary ad libbing. And, even I am one who likes codification. It is an interesting conundrum with two diametrically opposing forces needing to play nice with one another.

Words: Knowing the Difference

I have been trying to keep this one under my hat, but I just can’t seem to do so any longer. Recently, I have been inundated with all sorts of nastiness and ignorance across the internet. Mind you, most of it is not necessarily directed at me. However, the way some people state their points—however misguided—it could be. I think one of the more interesting things is how people like to take hot button words and warp their definitions to mean something else entirely. This practice has spilled over to include seemingly innocuous, everyday words. It is a bit much, folks.

I like to think of some basic guidelines when using language.

1. If you don’t know what a word means, don’t use it.
2. If you want to use a word, but aren’t sure which one—look it up or ask around. There is a wealth of legitimately useful information out there.
3. If you want to use big words, that’s fine. But, see number one above.
4. You aren’t necessarily smarter than someone who chooses not to use big words.
5. Baffling people with bullshit has a much lower success rate online. Remember, part of the practice includes first knowing what the other person knows.

Why do I fight the fruitless battle of trying to use logic on the Internet? It is a losing battle. I think what’s worse is when illogical people try to claim they are using logic—going so far as making up their own fallacies. And, people say the wise thing to do is let these people move on in their ignorance and even harmful ways and pay them no heed. That is a problem, my friends.

These people, spouting their nonsense, have the ability to infect other people. Someone might be taken in by their foolhardy arguments. They may fall prey to the senselessness. Have you ever met someone who is convinced that something is the truth, because so and so told them it was? How about people who are so convinced of their own bullshit, because no one else has ever dared correct them? “Oh, I know it is the truth, because my sister agreed with me.” It happens, folks. I used to think it was a rare occurrence, but the proliferation of such blind sheepdom has only gotten worse with the spread of internet technologies.

Now, I’m not saying everyone’s opinion is wrong. But, when opinion gets confused for fact, that is an issue. Granted, some of it may be confusion, because people simply don’t know what a word means. This past week alone, I have heard people talk about good people committing some of the most horrible acts imaginable. That, by definition, means they are no longer good. A good person, after all, is “virtuous, right, commendable.” Good people may be forced into bad decisions and have to choose the lesser of two evils. They might even make mistakes. They do not, however, rape, torture, or murder. They might go to extremes, they might kill for the right reasons, but they do not commit acts of evil.

Supporting an argument is good for the brain. It is a good mental exercise. It is unfair to have different rules for different participants in the discussion. It cannot be suspected that one person must fully support their argument, but the other does not. It is unwise to blatantly dismiss facts simply because you do not believe them accurate, discuss them. Do not start a logical debate on one premise, change that parameters of that discussion part way through. If you just want to argue through the use of begging the claim, circular arguments, straw man techniques, sweeping generalizations, and other rhetoric, it accomplishes nothing for any party involved.

Some common words/terms that I have seen misused and abused over the week include, but are in no way limited to, censorship, fact, free agency, gender bias, logic, misogynistic, sexism/sexist. People often trying using big or hot button words, because they feel no one will challenge them on it, because mere challenging of the statement means they are somehow guilty of the misplaced definition of the term.

Shared World Campaigns in RPGs

I am not a huge fan of shared world campaigns in role playing games. In fact, I am not a huge fan of canon. With the old World of Darkness setting by White Wolf, there was a lot of canon. I would sit around the table with people who memorized every page. They hated it when I ran games in Cleveland and didn’t make Cleveland controlled by the Sabbat. They hated when I didn’t use the characters and storylines created by White Wolf. As a player, I was expected to know all these various stories, characters, etc.

I never took part in things such as Living Greyhawk or Living Forgotten Realms, because they just didn’t seem to suit me. It was like tournament play for D&D. It was good idea, but I believe it feel flat on execution. That is my personal opinion, though. Obviously, it didn’t do too badly, as they were were around for years.

Now, my problem was never with the actual content. In fact, some of the things I read over the years were very good. They showed tremendous talent and writers’ love for the games often showed through their writing.

My problem with these things were that they took place over many books. There was a significant investment of capital required. The other problem was how these stories laid everything out for you. The DM or GM had a few options, which meant characters had a few options, but people who wanted to stay true to the story were quite limited in what they could do. For someone in a World of Darkness game for example, demolishing the Mall of America might not work if a later supplement required Mall of America as one of the settings. Now, some people would change the setting, say the mall was rebuilt or otherwise work around it. Other—and a number of them—want to stay strictly by the book.

Now, here I am reading a new role playing game book with LOTS of setting material. That would be the Numenera RPG, which should come as no surprise to those of you who have read my recent blog posts. +Monte Cook  has done an awesome job is laying out a world for us to explore in a wide variety of ways. He plans on doing a lot more with it, too. The discussion or organized play has come up, but the team indicates it is a long way off from doing this.

From a recent G+ Hangout, where we talked about Numenera, an idea I had come up with some time ago regarding shared worlds and organized play came back to me.

Art by Levon Jihanian http://levonjihanian.com/

What about a setting, supported by the publisher, but directed by the fans? I believe this is something the new Shadowrun is supposed to do—where actions players take through organized play and the company website will have an effect on the progressing game world.

I could totally see organized play where everyone is given the same adventure to start with. The plot hook style games with a general outline provided in the way that Monte Cook does are excellent for this. Then, game reports are sent back to the publisher. Let the fans vote on the ways the stories player out and how they ended. What did they find the best or coolest? Then, base the next adventure off of those votes. These can be strung together in a story by publishing company and be supported as official canon.

Of course, there are some logistical concerns to this, especially if you are working with different players with different characters, etc. However, as a basic idea, it sounds kind of neat. This is the sort of interaction I believe should exist between gaming companies and the fans today. It provides the transparency consumers are demanding in so many markets. And fans obviously want to be involved. That explains the activity on blogs, forums, online communities, etc. It also helps to explain the success of Kickstarter as a publishing platform.

Shared worlds are great. They can be extremely fun and surprising. However, if it is just reciting and following canon, how fun is it really?

On What it Means to be a Nerd

Love him or hate him (I, personally like the guy) Will Wheaton gave some amazing advice to a nerd girl’s infant daughter and it was caught on video for when she is old enough to understand in regards to being a nerd. I’ll post that down below, but I wanted to add my own two cents in on the topic.

Nerd sure seems to have taken on a different meaning since I was a little boy. Heck, it seems a lot of things have. Heck, when did writing homebrew rules suddenly become “hacking” a game. Used to be the only hacking we did with games was related to dungeon crawls or cyberpunk style games. Now, everything gets hacked. But, I digress.

When I was younger, I can remember a whole discussion—maybe it was more of a lecture—my father had with me in regards to some of these horrible names kids called one another: geek, nerd, lerp, etc. I don’t really remember all the definitions, but I remember a geek was a nerd that was cool. So, the nerds at the time were interesting in computers, wore pocket protectors, had tape holding their glasses together, were poorly socially developed, and so on.

Today, we have an entire sub-culture, gaining in popularity, where being a nerd is cool. All these things I grew up around and grew up enjoying and still enjoy and inject into my own kids’ lives are typically considered nerdy. Comic books, sci-fiction, role playing games, Star Trek, Star Wars, to name just a few.  In +Wil Wheaton's explanation, he points out it is the passion we have for these things and others including architecture, fashion design, and others. And, he’s probably right. I don’t know the last time I heard someone being called a nerd for fashion design unless it was associated with designing and creating cosplay costumes, though.

I’ve had some great friends through the years. I have had the wonderful opportunity to connect and reconnect with them through advanced in technology. I’ve met a great many more through Google +.  Interestingly enough, I have actually formed friendships with people through that specific social media platform versus others where it is all business networking or connecting with people I know in real life. The passion these folks have for their games, comics, and previously teases sub-genres of entertainment is amazing.

Now, however, much of what was previously considered nerd sub-culture is becoming mainstream. The super hero movies are raking in oodles of cash. Diehard fans of old material may berate them from straying too far, but I believe that’s a mistake. Things need to evolve. Changes and sacrifices need to be made. And, just because someone cannot quote you the entire family tree of Jean and Scott Summers does not mean that they are any less a fan. They love the characters or stories that they are familiar with for what they are. They may not have enjoyed the other stories or they may not have even had a chance to catch up on 30 plus years of source material.

This whole discussion about girls not being able to be nerds is ridiculous. Don’t even get me started. Gaming, comics, sci-fi, they are about telling universal stories. They’re meant to bring people together. Those who want to use them to toss down dividing lines, like some old school grongards that believe the most complex and archaic rules sets are the best because it keeps everyone who doesn’t automatically or already understand the rules out, are fools.

For me, being a nerd will continue to include having a passion and understanding for those things that a lot of people still just don’t think is cool. Maybe they have been adopted. A comic buff can still be a comic nerd, even though they are and will continue to gain in popularity. That passion we have when it comes to gaming, the excitement we feel at rolling a Natural 20, in-depth character actualization without being paid to write a book or star in a movie or play—that is the nerd’s claim to nerdom. I see guys get totally excited when the crack a hard piece of code, so excited they fall out of their chair cheering. They’re nerds. I see the way my niece talks about anime, her enthusiasm for the medium and I know, she is a nerd. My wife, the way she takes to accounting and explains it to others with a twinkle in her eye—she’s a nerd too. You should really see my one buddy’s toy collection from the 80s and early 90s. He is most certainly a nerd. +Jonathan Henry  is a certified nerd when it comes to RPGs, but get him started on cars. You will find that an individual can be nerdish on more than one subject quite easily.

So, being a nerd is about passion and dedication. The word has changed over the years and that is okay. Being able to accept you for who you are is your job. The others who can’t, they probably aren’t worth the time to try and explain. However, nerds of different stripes, who like different things, still find that common ground to stand on. One like anime and the other role playing games. They both recognize the passion in one another. And with that, you should see the amazing things these wild and varied nerds can accomplish when they work together.

RPG Garbage

I’ve taken some time over the last little while to review some games I have had sitting on my HD for quite some time. Some of these were free games. In other cases, they were PDFs I had bought, but never really took a look at. I have to be honest, folks. There is a lot of crap out there.

I am not talking about some people like some games better than other people. I am not talking about how some systems may be better balanced or more functional than others. I am talking about half-written, derivative hunks of junk. Now, don’t get me wrong. I have a lot of that stuff on my hard drive with my name in there as the author. I haven’t been so bold to put it out there on the internet.

I did recently run a test to get a better understanding of the process of self-publishing gaming PDFs through DriveThru RPG when I released OSR Gems. It certainly isn’t the best book out there, but it’s relatively cheap. It was really, for me, a test more than anything else. Do the tools I have meet the standards for publication? What kind of turmoil must I go through to actually post and release the book? Those kinds of things. In all, it wasn’t too bad.

However, as I look around at some of the stuff I’ve picked up over the years, I find that a sizeable chunk is wholly worthless to me. Many contain large sections of portions copy and pasted (and, if I am lucky, reformatted) internet ramblings. A number bring nothing new to the table. Some are as if someone, in some sort of drug induced stupor, decided they wanted to create a role playing game, but didn’t quite know how to do it or where to start.

I’m going to avoid mentioning any names here. Part of the reason is some of these books or projects share a name with successful and beautiful games. That is, they are not associated with that game or the better known versions of it, but they used the same name—this is especially true for some of the fan stuff games freely available on the internet. The other reasons are because (a) maybe the creator was just having a bad day or year and (b) some of this stuff other people may actually enjoy. Frankly, I’m not ready to get into the ripping apart of any specific project bit by bit let alone argue the point with anyone.

Let’s just all agree to a single statement. Some of the stuff you find online (free or for sale) is complete and utter rubbish.

Getting that out of the way, I think there’s reasons for all of it. In many cases, it’s free stuff. Someone was working on a project, wanted to share it. Perhaps the feedback killed the project. Perhaps real life came in and disrupted things. Maybe they got good feedback and decided to take continued development offline and put a more professional spin on things. Maybe the creator or creators were just really that clueless and they thought what they had put together was good. Maybe it was someone trying to make a quick buck in a segmented market. I am sure, between us, we could come up with several more reasons.

Now, why do I bring this up.

Let me let you in on a little secret.

I am afraid of being that guy.

I have a lot of ideas, although I sometimes have difficulty in pinpointing their proper execution. I have a lot of stuff going on in the real world that distracts me. I have 99 problems, but being a successful gaming publisher isn’t one of them, if you get my drift. What if I put out something that bombs? Worse yet, what if I don’t know how horrible it is. The first PDF I put out for OSR last week could have been better. My co-creator suggested a specific look for the images to make it more “old school.” I’d figure we’d give it a try. It was an idea anyhow. So far, it’s the only negative criticism I have gotten, which is not bad, but I haven’t gotten a lot of feedback by any means.

I want to be the guy who puts together and puts out something awesome. That’s part of the reason I have this blog. You, my willing victim…er, audience, give me a lot of feedback and a lot to think on. I think that’s awesome. I write a LOT on a daily basis for work, so teaching myself that writing is still also my passion is another key reason for this blog. I get something back by posting here, so that’s why I do it.

Meanwhile, I take time to consider my next move out there. There are a lot of things I could work on, but I need to find the right one worth putting the time, effort, and other resources into. Now, I’ll come back and touch on that later, because I love the feedback I get here. I wonder if such a supportive and active community would’ve helped prevent some of these other disasters I refer to earlier.

Now, I’m going to come back in awhile and talk about my goals for putting together a good gaming product. These are more overly generalized things that I think need to be there for me to be proud of it. In the meantime, I open the floor to you. Have you guys seen the kind of garbage I am talking about? What do you think when you see it? What are some of the biggest missed opportunities you see in these lackluster attempts?

Hacking the OSR

Okay, maybe I’m a bit late getting on the boat with this one. Maybe it’s because I started gaming in the early 90s when AD&D 2^nd Edition was all the rage, although Palladium’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness was my first foray into the wild, wonderful, and wacky world of role playing games. I’ve played a lot of RPGs over the years. Admittedly, even though I could see through the publishers’ tricks, I was always interested in what was new and shiny, although I did always have my old standby games.

Unfortunately, like a lot of gamers, I grew up. I moved away from friends. I got caught up in work, kids, family, and all the other stuff us grownups do. Of course, when we need the escape the most, it is often hardest to pull off. Moving back home, getting on Google Plus and meeting a bunch of gamers, and having finally gotten my wife interested in the hobby, I have been able to come back and enjoy the great escape once more.

Mind you, this post is based on my own, limited experience with OSR. There may be plenty out there that I have not yet seen or read. And, should someone believe I am mischaracterizing OSR, has suggestions at something I should look at, I’m more than happy to hear the feedback and/or take the suggestions.

This whole idea of OSR, which what I can tell is short for Old School Renaissance, and retro-clone games kind of threw me for a loop. People started understanding copyright law a bit better. People started longing for the games the enjoyed in their youth. Others had never left. There are people today still playing the same game and even the same campaign they started some twenty or thirty years ago. New editions of games have been released. Totally new and different games have been published. But, here we have this idea of going back to old school gaming.

I get it…sorta.

Where I am at a loss as someone who likes to tinker with games and hopes to continue publishing my own material is where the lines are. Which ones can we cross and which things are held sacred? When it comes to OSR, we are re-hashing what came before. Most have made no changes, except for specific wording. Many have taken bits and pieces from different versions and weaved them together. But, when does the hack become too much?

OD&D, D&D 1e, even AD&D 2^nd Edition had some substance, but there was hardly much to them. Everything was based on a simple die mechanic. Rolemaster and Palladium were really the same. However, there was always room to create a new skill or OCC/RCC/PCC or whatever for Palladium. There  was always room for a new profession, talent, skill, or table in Rolemaster. With D&D, what could you do? Maybe a new skill, a new race, or a new class or sub-class. All of these things worked on previously established parameters. For the most part, that is what I have seen happening with these new renditions of old material.

With newer games such as Savage Worlds, D&D 3x, Pathfinder, World of Darkness, and others, I have seen a lot of new rules enter the fray. This comes through the publisher’s supplements and 3pp books. It’s on the forums, blogs, and elsewhere.

How are changes or additions taken when considering them in relation to OSR material, though? And, so far, while many games existed back in the day, OSR seems synonymous with old school D&D. What about those other games that have been out for 20 plus years? Is there any OSR love for them?

Rules Heavy vs. Rules Light Systems

Someone asked me today what brought about my sudden interest rules heavy role playing games. This question came as kind of a shock. Then, it hit me, since I’ve become more active on Google Plus, joined a number of RPG communities, partaken in the Giant Dragons gamer chats, and been playing games through Google Hangouts, a majority of the games have been more rules light—FATE Core, Savage Worlds, Apocalypse World, Fiasco, and so on.

Here is the secret. I have played those games because I was interested to try something new. For the longest time, however, I have always been more interested in what would typically be considered more rules heavy RPGs—various editions of Dungeons & Dragons, Palladium Rifts, Shadowrun, and more.

Now, I am not here to define a rules light or a rules heavy game. There’s enough people out there that have trouble agreeing on what a role playing game is, let alone to start defining the different genres and sub-genres. For me, there is a big difference between these games. I like the games that have more rules—rules like D&D, Pathfinder, and Spycraft. The OGL and D20 rules sets gave me a level of customization that I enjoy in games. However, I look at things from other systems that I enjoy and how the things I like in those games can be used in others.

For example, I’d love to take a something like the Gilded Cage by White Wolf for their old World of Darkness setting and bring that into other games. It offered a complex and in depth look at influence and status and how that alone provides for a challenging and fun game in and of itself. The aspects from FATE, however, are awesome and can be useful for just about any game. Plus, it just seems easier to find people willing and wanting to play these lighter systems over the Internet. I believe it may be because of a lack of investment in online games by players, so easier rules requires less of an investment. It’s kind of a circular pattern.

Myself, personally, I do not really enjoy one shot games. I like to play in longer campaigns. I enjoy my hobby and I want to feel the benefit of being invested in it. I like taking time to create a character, figure different statstics, find different ways to make things work together. In fact, that is one of the reasons I enjoy more rules heavy systems. I believe that rules do a few things. They give us a framework to work in. They help to support the story, not interefere. You know, I came up loving comic books. I’ve heard the “who is faster?/who is stronger?/who would win?” as much if not more than anyone else. Rules give us a way to measure all of those sorts of things.

Sometimes, the rules present us with a challenge to find clever ways to do things, and I do not find that problematic in the least. The rules light systems seem to me to be much more arbitrary in nature. They can be fun, don’t get me wrong. But, they just aren’t the same.

Declutter So We Can Focus

For awhile now, I have been meaning to clean up my PC. It’s a mess. Half of the desktop is filled with icons I never use. The hard drive is way more full than it needs to be. I’ve kept the shortcuts down, but I just need more room and better organization. I’m actually not too bad of keeping it organized, but I am sure the bloat on the HD is actually responsible for some of the performance issues I have had as of late. So, I’m finally sitting down and going through and remedying that situation.

It comes to me that I have run into the same problem in life. I need to declutter some things a bit. Right now, I have a LOT going on. I’m dealing with my youngest’s health issues, just moved back near friends and family but still trying to get back on my feet, dealing with two major professional projects that are always teetering on the verge of disaster which could lead to serious loss, have new projects in the wings and launch stages, have regular work to deal with, and so on and so forth.

Now, I am not complaining. I’m more having a Homer Simpson “DOH!” moment. Yesterday, I allowed myself to get drawn into an argument with someone online. They didn’t take well to having the tables turned on them and being treated as the way they treated others. Still, I could’ve avoided it. But, I didn’t. Why? I deal with enough BS, allowing it to perpetuate itself in my presence is kind of silly. Last night, and then again tonight, I had to turn down two potentially lucrative projects. Now, I’m not made of money, but I simply don’t have any more bandwidth. I was invited to a family reunion this weekend, but I’ll staying home this weekend to put out some unwanted fires while lighting some (hopefully) very good ones.

This all revolved around a few things. I am my own boss these days. I should be making my own hours. I shouldn’t have to split my days up into different shifts, sleeping at odd hours between those shifts for short periods of time in order to get things done. I work with computers all day. I shouldn’t be dealing with system lag in my own living room. I need to spot the frauds who tell me they can do something only to fail to deliver earlier on and steer clear of them. I need to organize my days better and take more charge of how the precious thing we call time is spent.

At the same time, however, I believe this is something a good number of us need to do. We need to be able to focus on what is important, good, and positive. We need to be constructive with our endeavors. We need to be able to move forward in an efficient and effective manner. We can’t get caught up in the rest. We also need to be mindful of these things throughout our everyday dealings.

As we speak, I have uninstalled some 25 programs and am probably not even half way done. I still have more files to move over to an external drive and some other tweaks to make. It’ll take hours to get this done. I could’ve spent those hours doing something else much more constructive or at least fun. But, because I wasn’t paying attention along the way, I got caught up and distracted, I have to spend time now trying to go back and clean up a mess that should’ve never been created. I think we can all look at our lives and find at least one area where this is true. If so, knowing that it’s there is the first step in dealing with it.