And here is what i am considering the 'final' draft.

 It is the "final" draft because this is fiction based on an ongoing game of Shadowrun.  We meet weekly, and even when i have 'extra' time, like this week, to write up a session summary, there is still not a lot of time to, write up the session, perform all of the re-writes, verify what the other characters did and said (and what they may have been thinking), etc. - and even after all of that - the other players still critique it. Ha ha ha.  So, it will never be perfect.  but, i cannot let myself get bogged down on these stories, or else i will never keep up.  So, here is the "final" for of "Bridge"" for my character introduction of Aodhan.

-=-=-=-=-=-= O =-=-=-=-=-=-

“Don’t fragging move.”

 Aodhan stopped where he was and slowly lifted his arms out to the side.  He spread his fingers wide to show that he wasn’t holding anything, but kept his eyes on the drone feed streaming into his AR goggles.

 The voice had come from behind him.  A woman’s voice.  Terse and direct, but Aodhan couldn’t detect an immediate threat.  The light had to be playing tricks on the image.  She looked close to 2 meters tall, built like she could carry an anvil.  But she was no troll.  Disheveled and soaking wet from the storm outside, sure, but she was definitely an elven woman.  She held a lethal looking AK-97 at her hip, swiveling it between Patch and Aodhan.  The old woman that Patch was finishing taking care of finally spoke up. 

 “They took Cody,” she said weakly.

 The elven woman dropped the assault rifle and sprinted into the hallway, barreling into the dwarf, causing him to spider overtop of his patient.  She disappeared into a room on their left.

 A haunting scream tore from the bedroom.  Aodhan let his head drop as he reached up and rubbed the back of his neck.  “They never show this sort of thing in the trids, do they, Ghost.” he said to himself. He gave Patch a sideways glance to see if he was giving any indication of what to do.  Patch let out a silent exaggerated exhale and gave a slow shake of his head.  Time to pack up.  Puyallup had a way of swallowing its denizens – especially those who get involved in other people's business.

 “They took him, Tach!  Cody’s gone!”  they heard the elven woman’s yell before she slammed the bedroom door.

 Aodhan came over to help Patch and the old woman to their feet.  Patch spoke up in his slight German accent, “So we are going to go now.  Do you need us to call Knight Errant for you?”

 “No.  Please.”  She was searching for the right words.  “Her boyfriend…” Aodhan noticed contempt creeping into her face.  “He’s SINless.  They won’t help us.”  She looked around and then looked as if she was going to fall over again.  Instinctively both men reached out to steady her.

 “Look at this place,” she said wearily and started to straighten things up absently.

 The unlikely pair, Patchcable – in his blaze orange jacket, and Aodhan in his dark blues, greys, and black – stared at each other.  This wasn’t covered in any handbook.  The adage, “Watch your back, shoot straight, conserve ammo, and never, ever, cut a deal with a dragon,”   didn’t really cover this situation.  Neither did their ethos of helping others and preserving life (but not at the expense of preserving the guilty.)  The grandmother and mother were safe.  Mission accomplished.  Time to move along before the shadows decided they had seen too much.

 It was Aodhan’s turn to speak up with his slight Irish lilt.  “We’re going to move along then.  Let you settle your affairs as you see fit.”

 “Before you go,” came a resolute feminine voice.  Aodhan looked up.  The elven woman had emerged from the room in the hallway.  Her stature seemed to be closer to elven norm now.  She continued, “My boyfriend will be home in a little bit.  He will have a few questions on who did all this,” she said, gesturing around the room.  Aodhan looked over at Patch, who shrugged his shoulders and then nodded his head.

 They awkwardly got to work, helping put things back together around the house while they waited for the woman’s boyfriend to get home.  Patch picked up a picture frame and brushed it off.  With a hushed voice and a frantic wave of his arm, he called Aodhan over.

 Through the broken glass, Aodhan saw an elf woman holding a young boy on her hip.  Beside her stood an orc man in gang colors.

 “Patch, what did you say those fellas were wearing?  The ones we chased out of here?” Aodhan asked.

“Black leather jackets, with a neon green capital “A” on the back.  Why?”

“I think I have an idea why the kid might have been taken,” Aodhan said quietly.

-=-=-=-=-=-= O =-=-=-=-=-=-

Edit #3 actually

 So, over the weekend i tinkered with various issue i had with the rough draft.  One was the interaction with Leaf.  The elven woman who storms in behind my protagonist (Aodhan).  She is actually the "Dependent" (Negative Quality) of a fellow player in our group, so i reached out to him for ideas on how she would react, speak, etc.  This caused me to rewrite the middle dialog, and shift things around.

There is still work to be done.  I need to review for tense and POV consistency.  Two areas that i always struggle with when i write.  That will come next.

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“Don’t fragging move.”

 Aodhan stopped where he was and slowly lifted his arms out to the side.  Spreading his fingers wide to show that he was not holding anything.  But he also looked at the video Patch’ s drone was still feeding into his AR goggles.

 The voice had come from behind him.  A woman’s voice.  Terse, and direct, but Aodhan couldn’t detect an immediate threat.  The light had to be playing tricks on the image.  She looked like she was 200 cm tall, and looked to weighed in at least 135 kg, but she was no troll.  Disheveled, and soaking wet from the storm outside, sure, but she was definitely an elven woman.  She held a lethal looking AK-97 at her hip. that she was swiveling between Patch and Aodhan.  The old woman that Patch was finishing taking care of finally spoke up. 

 “They took Cody”, she said weakly.

 The elven woman dropped the assault rifle and sprinted into the hallway, barreling into the dwarf causing him to spider overtop of his patient.  She disappeared into a room on their left.

 A haunting scream came from the room.  Patch and Aodhan’s eyes locked on each other and they immediately understood.  Time to start gathering their things.  Puyallup had a way of swallowing its denizens, and those who get involved in other people's business.

 “They took him Tach!  Cody ‘s gone!  They heard the elven woman’s yell before she slammed the bedroom door.

 Aodhan came over to help, first Patch, and the old woman, to her feet.  Patch spoke up in his slight German accent, “so we are going to go now.  Do you need us to call Knight Errant for you?”

 “No.  Please.”  She was searching for the right words.  “Her boyfriend,” Aodhan noticed contempt creeping into her face, “he’s SINlesss.  They won’t help us.”  She looked around and then looked as if she was going to fall over again.  Instinctively both men reached out to steady her.

 “Look at this place.”  She said wearily and started to straighten things up absently.

 The unlikely pair, Patchcable, a German dwarf Rigger / StreetDoc who liked to wear his Blaze Orange Jacket, and Aodhan, an Elf Intrusion Decker, out of Tír na nÓg, who stuck to his dark blues, greys, and black.  Stared at each other with confused looks.  The adage, “Watch your back, shoot straight, conserve ammo, and never, ever, cut a deal with a dragon.”  - didn’t really cover this situation.  Neither did their ethos of helping others and preserving life (but not at the expense of preserving the guilty.)  The grandmother and mother were safe.  Mission accomplished.  Time to move along before the shadows decided they had seen too much.

 It was Aodhan’s turn to speak up with his slight Irish lilt.  “We’re going to move along then.  Let you settle your affairs as you see fit.”

 “Before you go,” came a resolute feminine voice.  Aodhan looked up.  The elven woman had emerged from the room in the hallway.  Her stature seemed to be closer to the racial norm.  She continued, “My boyfriend will be home in a little bit.  He will have a few questions on who did all this.”  She said gesturing around the room.  Aodhan looked over at Patch, who shrugged his shoulders and then nodded his head.

 They awkwardly got to work, helping put things back together around the house while they waited for the woman’s boyfriend to get home.  Patch picked up a picture frame and brushed it off.  With hushed voice and a frantic wave of his arm he called Aodhan over.

 Through the broken glass Aodhan saw, a picturesque elf woman, holding a young boy on her hip.  Standing next to her, an orc man.  Wearing gang colors.

 “Patch, what did you say those fellas were wearing?  The ones we chased out of here?”, Aodhan asked.

“Black leather jackets, with a neon green capital “A” on the back.  Why?”

“I think I have an idea why the kid might have been taken.”

-=-=-=O=-=-=-

So, this is my writing process. Sort of.

 With not much else to post about, i thought... why not share what i go through when i am writing up a short story.  You know, because i am such a "great" writer and all.  (disclaimer - i am a High School dropout.  I did not pass English past the first half of the 10th grade.  I did pass the GED.  It took me four, FOUR, tries to pass English 010.  Yes, OH ONE OH, not 101.  And, no, i have NOT completed ANY college degree.  So, take all of this with a large grain of salt).

-=-=-=O=-=-=-

I started off the next part of Aodhan's story with an outline from our Shadowrun gaming session.  This part was actually the latter half of the 1st gaming session.  The previous story was from the first half.  I consider this story as the "bridge" from the "Intro" until they meet the rest of the Shadowrun 'Party".

I started with just a really rough outline:

* woman enters the house with an SMG leveled at Aodhan and Patch

* Patch and Aodhan are complacent

* She realizes we were helping her mother and drops the SMG

* the women searched and realize that the baby is now gone (Cody)

* incoming call (others from the group, calling to check on them)

* Role-playing:  Patch and Aodhan begin to gather up their equipment to leave

* Leaf begins to play up that she is worried about the intruders coming back, and asks them to stay

* Aodhan will take up a position outside, hidden very near by.  Patch will remain inside, controlling his drones, but feeding video and audio feeds to him.

(108 words)

-=-=-=O=-=-=-

Then, i just 'free style' wrote up the first draft:

“Don’t you fraggers even think of breathing.”

Aodhan stopped where he was and slowly lifted his arms out to the side.  Spreading his fingers wide to show that he was not holding anything.  But he also looked at the video Patchcable’ s drone was still feeding into his AR goggles.

The voice had come from behind him.  A woman’s voice.  Terse, and direct, but Aodhan couldn’t detect an immediate threat.  The light had to be playing tricks on the image.  She looked like she was 200 cm tall, and looked to weighed in at least 135 kg, but she was no troll.  Disheveled, and soaking wet from the storm outside, sure, but she was definitely an elven woman.  And she held a lethal looking AK-97 that she was swiveling between Patch and Aodhan.  The old woman that Patch was finishing taking care of finally spoke up. 

“They took Cody”, she said weakly.

The elven woman dropped the assault rifle and sprinted past the Patch and his charge, practically barreling them both over as she turned down the hallway, disappearing into a room on their left.

A haunting scream came from the room.  Patch and Aodhan’s eyes locked on each other and they immediately understood.  Time to start gathering their things.  Puyallup has a way of swallowing its denizens, and those who get involved in other people's business.

As she emerged from the room, a mixture of fear and rage screwed her face into something Aodhan couldn’t describe.  But the woman’s stature was much diminished from when he saw her in the earlier video feed of his goggles.  Just then the awkward silence was broken by chirps from her commlink.

“They took him Tach!  Cody ‘s gone!  No, i… there are two guys here now…  no, they…. OK...  right.”

Her hand dropped to her side in resignation.  She seemed drained now.

Patch spoke up in his slight German accent, “so we are going to go now.  Do you need us to call Knight Errant for you?”

“No.  Please.”  She was searching for the right words.  “That was my boyfriend.  He asked if you could stay until he gets here.  To thank you.”

Patchcable able looked over at Aodhan who spoke up for both, “That’s not really necessary.  We’ve had a long day and…”

“Look, he’s SINless.  Knight Errant is just going to give us the runaround, and… we might need help getting my son back.”

Aodhan rubbed the back of his neck as he bowed his head.  He wasn’t sure how Patch was going to respond that that, but the least they could do was to hang around until her boyfriend got home.  Locked up the place.  He looked over at Patch, who just nodded his head.

The unlikely pair, Patchcable, a German dwarf Doc / Rigger who liked to wear his Blaze Orange Jacket, and Aodhan, an Elf Intrusion Decker, out of Tor na nOg, who stuck to his dark blues, greys, and black.  What good where they going to be in retrieving a kidnapped child? 

They awkwardly got to work, helping put things back together around the house while they waited for the woman’s boyfriend to get home.  Patch picked up a picture frame and brushed it off.  With hushed voice and a frantic wave of his arm he called Aodhan over.

Through the broken glass Aodhan saw, a picturesque elf woman, holding a young boy on her hip.  Standing next to her, an orc man.  Wearing gang colors.

“Patch, what did you say those fellas were wearing?  The ones we chased out of here?”, Aodhan asked.

“Black leather jackets, with a neon green capital “A” on the back.  Why?”

“I think I have an idea why the kid might have been taken.”

(624 words)

-=-=-=O=-=-=-

There is still a long way to go until i consider this finished.  But, in a way, this will document how it evolves as i go.

Introducing Aodhan

 

 It had been a long day of riding with Patchcable – Joseph von Burg, technically, but nobody called him that.  A grumpy dwarf rigger who supported himself as a mobile street doc.  He took care of those who couldn't afford DocWagon or CrashCart – especially those who couldn't get themselves to a street doc.  "Supported” was a loose term.  The guy was living out of his van.  Aodhan often drove the dwarf crazy by moving some pile of laundry, medical supplies not put away, or a drone project he hadn’t completed the night before.

 "Stop touching my things!" Patch would yell every time. 

 Still, the guy had hired Aodhan when no one else would.  When the gruff mudbeard had spotted him pushing his Growler with an empty tank, the dwarf had stopped to see if he needed help.  Then, when Patchcable spotted the Renraku Tsurugi slung over Aodhan’s shoulder, he offered him a job on the spot.  No questions asked.  Securing Patchcable’s PAN and watching his back while he drove through the streets of Seattle – that was the job. 

 Patchcable’s patients didn't always pay.  Which was a problem because that was the basis of their agreement – a percentage of whatever came in.  Still, it had kept Aodhan fed and, so far, enough Nuyen to make rent at his apartment in the north side of Puyallup.  The crotchety little dwarf would even condescend to pick him up when there wasn't enough money to fuel the bike. 

 Today's end-of-the-day meal was a platter of Tacos from Rico's Taco Haven Food Truck.  They were good.  Seasoned well enough that they couldn’t taste the soy.

 "Fraggin' gadaithe.  Can't they see we're tryin' to have our dinner over here?" Aodhan said to Patchcable as he turned to the sound of breaking glass behind them.  He put his AR goggles back in place over his eyes.  As his eyes refocused on the miniature screens within, he issued a mental command to scan for Matrix icons.  The thermal images of five bodies outlined easily against the cooler backdrop of the house they were breaking into, but no active PAN icons broadcasting. 

 “Definitely up to no good,” Aodhan thought to himself as he took another bite out of his taco. 

 Then a woman's scream and a baby's cry. 

 "Oh for Frag's sake!" 

 With that he put his taco down.  He wasn't sure how long it would take the Guards – no, what did the locals call them?  Knight Errant – but he knew it would take several minutes to get here.  Minutes that could mean the difference between life and death for whoever was in that house.  Especially that baby.

Patchcable gave him permission with a small nod.  

 With that the wiry elf slipped out of the passenger seat of the Doc/Rigger's van.  He left the door open, not wanting to make a noise.  He moved across the street and entered the yard.  As he did so a pair of tiny spy drones whispered by his shoulder and on into the house through the broken pane of glass the intruders used to open the front door.

 Aodhan followed smoothly up to the door and peered through the broken pane of glass.  Three thermal outlines.  One straight ahead of him.  Maybe the leader?  It was moving hectically, turning around, arms pointing, and lots of screaming.  Two to his left. One of them was obviously trashing the place, while the other was working a console of some kind.  “Where did the other two get off to?”  he thought to himself.

 "'Patch, I’ve got one of my neurostun grenades ready if we need to go in."

 "Yo! Is this one of your drones?" a voice called out from inside.

 Before Aodhan could register that one of the Doc's drones had been spotted, the inside of the house was lit up by a flash-pack detonation.

 “For feck’s sake Doc!”, Aodhan cried out as he instinctively turned his head away and blinked several times.  Fortunately, his goggles’ compensation dampened the effects, but not before those pretty little blue dots appeared filling up part of his vision.  Still, he couldn't hesitate.  He popped the pin on his neurostun grenade, threw open the door, and landed the grenade at the leader's feet in the center of the house.  He didn’t wait to admire his work.  He yanked the door shut without slamming it home.  A second, but very much more subdued, flash of light popped from within the house, followed by an intense hissing.  Loud coughing and curses in Sperethiel filled the house. 

 Patchcable connected the visual feed from his remaining drone to Aodhan's PAN.  The gas had disabled the leader in the center of the room.  The two thugs to his left were stumbling toward a door leading away.  Probably outside.  Where was the last intruder?  And the ones screaming and crying? 

 Aodhan shifted the image feed to the upper left of his AR goggles and initiated another Matrix scan. Five PAN icons were exiting the house. 

 “Frag, frag, frag.  What have you done, you keeb!?” 

 He whipped out his respirator, removed his flat cap, and dropped it smoothly over his face.  He counted to five and entered the house. 

 There, where Aodhan thought the leader had been, lay a woman.  Sprawled out and not moving.  He rushed over, dropping to his knees beside her.  He tugged his shock gloves off and grabbed a wrinkled wrist, searching for a pulse.  Her skin was pale.  Ashen.  Were her lips turning purple?  He leaned over, bringing the respirator’s faceplate close to her mouth. 

He couldn’t tell. 

His hand went still on her wrist. 

He wasn’t the doctor.

 "Well done, you fraggin' eejit.  You took out someone's Mamó."  The blood drained from his face as he said it aloud to no one.  He keyed his commlink.  "Better get in here, Doc."

Author's Post script:  Yes, i'm still around.  Life has just kept me really busy.  I doubt any of my original readers are even still around, but who knows.  I've kept writing short stories, but not as much as'd like.  This is a new character, and maybe a new 'series',  I guess i'll see.  Whoever stumbles across this one, i hope you like it.

 So many ramblings come to mind.  Ah, the joys of ADHD.  I am also out of practice, so i will just dive in.

As i begin to ramble write i have set my expectations to the audiance of just one.  Well, two, counting myself.  I just want to be an open book, but at the same time, not too revealing.  This is, after all, a public forum.  I believe that when i was posting more prolifically, blogging was a fairly popular means of being a "influencer".  Now with platforms such as TikTok, the writing and reading form is a lot less popular.  I am sort of counting on this.  Just like most others, i struggle with my own pride, and i really don't want this to become a temptaiton for myself.

As a Christian, i know my focus should be on Christ all the time.  However, like most 'laymen' my day to day goings on are filled with distractions.  With competing interests.  To the best of my ability, i attempt to conform my thoughts on how to view these things through the lens of what i know, and learn, of the Bible.  But, i am not always successful.  To my personal dismay.

I have several post concepts that i am working on... "Effective Communication". "Regarding a Biblical Soul", more thoughts on "The Big Cats of the NFL", Shadowrun, and more.  I have no idea what will make it to fruition,but... it's a (re)start for me.

If anyone stumbles across this blog, i hope it produces fruit in your life, and does not feel like a waste of your time.

God Speed

-=-=-=O=-=-=-

Is anybody out there?

Life... i am no longer going to try and explain why i've not been blogging every time i finally get back to it.  I will just do my best to do it more often.  And now, on to my typical ramblings...

-=-=-=O=-=-=-

What good year for Carolina Panther Football!  The 2013 pre-season, i liked what i had been seeing  and reading about the Panthers Defense, but the Offense continued to worry me.  The o-line showed troubles opening running lanes, and the receivers seemed to have trouble pulling the ball in, except for Steve Smith of course - but the Panthers have been a one-trick-pony in that are for far too long.  Steve Smith is a warrior, but until they can bring in more consistent receivers, the passing game is always going to be just not good enough.  Then, around October there was a players meeting, and i forget now who did the talking, Jordan Gross i believe, but they turned things around.  After going 1-3 in the first four weeks, the Panthers finished the NFC South champions and a 12-5 overall record.  They lost to a very physical San Francisco 49ers team.  I knew that the Panthers were in trouble in the first quarter when the Panthers players had 3(!) personal foul penalties, one of which gave the 49ers a crucial 1st down.  I could ramble on and on, in more detail than i care to think about, but i was not very hopeful for a post season in August, and i was pleased to see them make it into January.  My goal for the team in the 2014, a 9-7 season.  I would just like to see two, back to back, winning seasons at this point. :)  Oh, and they had best lock Steve Smith in for the rest of his football career.

-=-=-=O=-=-=-

2013 was supposed to be "The Year of Shadowrun".  There was supposed to be a flurry of releases, on multiple company fronts.  The only two that were actually released, that i know of was the PnP 5th edition, and a computer game called Shadowrun: Returns.  As things are likely to do in the corporate world, drek happens.  There are at least two table top versions of the game.  One is a "gang sized" miniatures version, and a card game.  These have been delayed for play testing reasons, etc.  However, i am really happy to hear that the card version is ready to move to the production side of things.  Shadowrun: Crossfire.  The one i am looking forward to the most is, Shadowrun: Online.  It will be an MMO, with a changing story line as it goes by.  The characters will have an influence over what happens as the story changes.  I have shifted my story writing to follow more of the Cyberpunk-ish themes of Shadowrun... so far... i have... maybe, four characters, i will be following.  Not even sure of the what/when/where. 8)  A really good interview with Jan Wagner can be found at "The Arcology Podcast". Jan talks about cross platform, simultaneous, game play with both friends, and available Chummers.  Seriously, this last one looks, and sounds, the coolest of all.  Online will be released in Beta (with monthly updates mentioned in the podcast linked above) late 2014Q1 (late March).

-=-=-=O=-=-=-

I have heard comments similar to, "If there is a God, why is there so much suffering in the world?", and i can understand where such a person is coming from.  Why, because i was once focused totally on myself, and believing that my opinions were the only correct ones too.  However, i have found that human beings are hard pressed to seriously consider things from any other point of view, other than their own.  I propose that, just maybe, God is doing what humans so desperately want Him to do.  To let us try and earn His good graces, to try and do it on our own, and that is where the suffering truly comes from.  He has provided a way, He has shown, and provided, us a way through His Son, He has even taken the time to write it down, and yet, the one thing we truly do not want to believe is... the human heart is NOT naturally good.  We do not inherently seek out the good of others - especially when it conflicts with our own wants and desires.  I am not discounting those who help their fellow man out, but there is almost always a limit.  A line that will not be crossed.  Why, because no one likes to be thought of as a pushover.  From individuals that feel the need to have some personal wish fulfilled or want to get tended to, to nations that want to exert influence in the world.  Pride will invariably, at some point, exert itself, and God has told us what will happen to us because of our pride.  He also does occasionally do something about it - hello, the Flood (Genesis 6-9), or Sodom and Gamorrah? (Genesis 19)  He has also promised that He will be dealing with the entire world, and their transgressions against Him, and each other (which is, in turn, a transgression against Him), in His own time.  However, if one chooses to not accept His time and place for such things, than they will most likely find themselves placed alongside Satan and his fellow angles who wanted to be like God and rebelled.

Ramblings of the Geek kind...

Although my life  is not nearly as interesting as most (if not all) of the Tilly Hat testimonials, i really like my Tilly hat.    My beloved is not as enamored with it as i am, but after over 15 years of trying to find a hat that we both liked i had given up.  We were at Hershey Park and the sun was brutal.  I had tried several other full brim hats but the only thing she seemed to concede to was traditional baseball style hats, but i got tired of repositioning it every time i moved in relation to the sun.  Well, just about the time i was getting increasingly frustrated with my ball cap i saw a woman with a really nice hat, so i asked her where she had gotten it.  That was when i was first introduced to Tilley hats.  Fast forward a couple of weeks and i am exploring Tilley's website, and i order my hat.  Me beloved just smiles and shakes her head.  I've told her, "Oh, the hat plays!" Fast forward to this past Friday, and we are back at our favorite amusement park (that we can afford, and travel to relatively easily), Hershey Park.  The heat was incredible.  We had just gotten there and walked to where we usually start our visit (out towards the Fahrenheit), i was just sitting there waiting for THUMPER, and the sweat was just dripping off of me.  Eventually i couldn't take the heat anymore... i took the ice from my cup of ice water and filled the map pocket.  This created a cool "pocket" (no pun intended) that kept the head cool, with both the slowly melting ice and evaporating water really kept my noggin cool, which in turn kept the rest of me cool.

There is something about the smell of a computer room.  The A/C and the unique smell of warm electronic equipment "humming" along in a constant struggle to maintain a cool temperature, the vibration of the various fan motors stirring the air to sustain this conflict.  Even walking on an elevated floor knowing that probably literally miles of cable all snake between various points to allow every computer in the building to not only interact with the other computers, but the various servers.  And not just "in house", but with other offices not just several miles, but states, and even other continents via the WWW.  I think my affinity for such things, and the fact my mind can (sort of) picture data flows and how it interacts with configurations and hardware, is why i really enjoy the Matrix and Tron movies.  I think it is also why i like shows like Johnny Mnemonic and Max Headroom, even though i have NEVER played, games like Cyber Punk and Shadowrun.

Speaking of TRON, i am getting geek giddy over TRON: Legacy due out in December. This movie has been literally decades in the making.  TRON: Legacy, in its current form, was first presented to Disney by way of a "Concept Trailer" which was then shared at the San Diego Comic-Con in 2008.  Once Disney saw the reaction from the fan base there they agreed to finance the project.

So, then however movie making companies, like Disney, go forward writing and filming began to take place.  Then at last years Comic Con Disney really stepped up their 'viral marketing campaign'.  Several Encom marketing press conferences, a new trailer for the movie, and several other web pages.  To be honest i have lost track of them all, but it has been impressive.  The New York Time recently wrote an article on the changing dynamics that studios have to go through to market movies and even TV shows.

Disney even kept up the fanbase, and the movie marketplace, gently fed with rumor and pictures, and other eye candy.  I know my friends on facebook are beginning to get concerned about my apparent obsession with this movie.  I know it is just a movie, and even when finished will not be near in epic in scope like the Lord of the Rings movies, but this may be the first 3D movie i ever see in theaters.  I am already planning on having a "guys night" planned.  perhaps catching the movie on Saturday afternoon and we all head out for steaks afterward.

I am really enjoying the visuals and the sneak peaks that have been put out for this movie.  I think Disney will have a success with this movie... but only time will tell.  I even enjoy the geek toys like the keyboard and mouse set up, as well as several of the toys being planned.

There is still a part of me that does not understand why God made me this way.  I struggle to make friends IRL.  I think i have more cyber friends than i do flesh and blood ones.  I don't get a lot of social cues - but i have learned a lot and have come a long way since High School (fellow Aspies out there take heart).  I struggle to maintain eye contact, or even to sit still when agitated for any reason (makes having 'intense' discussions with my Beloved very difficult).  I have trouble remaining focused on any one thing, even during prayer.  And yet, the way God has made me... i can literally visualize data streams and how they flow.  Sometimes down to the packet header level.  At times, i have been called to break it all the way down to the bit level.  I also do not seem to have too much difficulty putting the various pieces together from throughout the Bible.  While i am far from perfect, i am enjoying who i am.  A person who likes to wear hats, who enjoys sitting at the feet of God, who enjoys the Cyberpunk and Post Apocalyptic genres, who loves his Beloved bride, and all of the "packaging" i continue to struggle with in order to be conformed into the image of my Savior, Jesus Christ (Rom 8:26-30). 

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. [1] Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. (Psalm 139:14, ESV)

Last night my Beloved came home from THUMPER's last basketball game of the summer and saw me watching the original TRON movie.  She then proceeded to ask me, "would you please stop telling people on Facebook that you like this movie!"  I told her, i can't do it.  "I am who i am, and i can't be anything else." She will just have to take me as i am, Tilley hat wearin', TRON watchin' socially flawed person that i am.  Because God has seen me as i am, taken the initiative to reach out to me, and has been slowly working to transform me into the image of His Son... and with the exception of these things possibly being an idol in my life, i do not think it matters in the overall scheme of things.

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