Star Wars: The Force and Destiny, Day 1

The past year or so I have been playing a table top game with two coworkers after school.  It is called Star Wars X-Wing.  It basically involves piloting a ship across the gaming area, then taking turn based actions and defensive moves to destroy your fellow players.  Think, dog fight in space moved into the miniatures world.  I started playing two A-wing fighters with pretty great maneuverability but not a ton of fire power.  Since then I've moved up to Han Solo and Chewy in the Millenium Falcon and it is pretty rockin'.  There's a defensive feature that allows me to restore one shield per defensive action from other player's attacks.  That, and the ability to re-roll for offense at least once per action really makes the Falcon pack a punch and take a lickin'.

Anywho, that game is held pretty much weekly but since I can't really always make it every week my coworker suggested we play a Flight Fantasy Games rpg that he had and was keen on trying with all of us.  We all figured that if we could make it an ongoing game we can pick and choose dates every month (or more) to make sure we can all attend.  I thought it was pretty cool of my coworker to consider my busy schedule and I appreciated that a lot!

We decided to go for it, and met the first time to build our charachters.  He brought in the game book and we took a look at all the character builds, species, careers and force abilites.  I decided to choose a Sentinel, which is basically a remnant of the Jedi Order from the Old Republic.  They used to be Jedi, in a way, in so much as they would not solely rely on Jedi skills and the Force.  They could utilize more practical skills.  In fact, I was reading a message board today on FFG's website and someone was discussing how Luke's memoirs included notes about Sentinels after Order 66.  Apparently, many of the surviving Jedi were the Sentinels, having the skills and know how to blend in with normal people and rely on practical skills instead of their Jedi powers.  Sounds plausible to me, right?

So far, I was assigned homework after the character building day.  I needed to figure out my name, backstory and why I was in the situation that my coworker has presented.  The situation was that I was on a ship soaring above what seemed to be a desert planet, with two ships being me in hot pursuit.  Also aboard the ship was a archaeologist of some sort played by the GM and my other coworker's character.  The three of us are ready to roll!   (haha see what I did there?  roll? dice? tabletop rpg?  nerds?  yeah...totes punny)

I've got some homework - how exciting!  Stay tuned for a post on what happened next.  (fyi: it was one of the most fun days of my fall, FTW!)

Two Weeks of Chaos, Wil and R2-D2

Recently, Wil Wheaton wrote about a talk he gave at Miami University about bullying.  I felt particularly inspired after reading what he wrote in the following:

"OK, one last fundamental truth of life: you attract to yourself what you put into the world. When you are kind and gentle, you’ll find yourself surrounded by kind and gentle people, and you’ll all be like a tribe of awesome."

This quote made me reflect on the past two weeks at work, which have been very challenging.  My entire career, actually, has been challenging.  I have taught close to ten different classes, spanning every level from AP to special needs.  I've been called on the Sunday night before the first day of school to be asked to teach an all-senior, field course in which the students themselves drive around to meet me at select field sites.  Gee, nothing could EVER go wrong in that class requiring a law suit, heh, right? RIGHT?

Anyway, I survived all that and here I am with mo' teaching mo' problems.  I'm kind of like R2-D2, because he survived all the prequels.  They were harsh.  TOTALLY as harsh as high school.  I wish I could fist-bump my little bro, Artoo, right now and give him a look that says 'tight' (McLovin, anyone?)

So, back to my point; the last two weeks and Wil's inspiring words.  I've had a challenging couple weeks.  In the middle of it all, I have found some compelling power that has reinvigorated me, despite the chaos.  I've decided that I am going to think positively and send those vibes outward.  It is working, so far, because I am gaining perspective.  I am seeing the chaos for what it is, and trying to reverse it, one day at a time.  I want a tribe of awesome.  I will not lay down and give up!  If Artoo can make it to the 7th movie, so will I.  Thanks, Wil.