Welcome

I'm not sure how often I'll use this...I'm not even sure how often anyone will bother to read it, or want to hear my inane babbling. But Wasted Lands is for OD&D stuff, and Elf Lair Games is for company updates. I had nowhere to post my personal musings and sometimes unforgivable angst.

Yes, it's named after the film starring Vincent D'Onofrio and Renee Zellweiger. The flick, in case you haven't seen it, is based on the book One Who Walked Alone, a firsthand account of the last year of Robert E. Howard's life (Howard being the creator of Conan and Solomon Kane, among other great pulp characters).

The book is well worth a read, even if you're not a fan of the pulps. Howard was a complex and very broken man, and the story is heartfelt, moving, and just all around great drama. I considered naming the blog after the book, but "One Who Walked Alone" sounds really pretentious and emo.

So here it is. If you care to read, please read and hopefully enjoy a trip into my brain. I should warn you: about some things I'm rabidly liberal, and about others rabidly conservative. I try and stay centrist, but I find after posting on certain message board sites that certain vocal people vehemently and often rudely disagree with my often blunt and yes, judgmental stance on things. Not that I blame them, mind you: I'm just warning you.

So, where shall we begin?

A bit about me for those who don't know me. I am 35 years old, recently married, and work for the University of Pittsburgh as an administrative assistant in the department of Bioengineering. I've had far worse jobs, but this isn't one I hope to occupy forever.

I am a freelance tabletop role playing game designer. A somewhat outdated list of my credits can be found at http://www.grey-elf.com/work.html . I should really get around to updating that at some point.

I'm a writer, working on a novel right now, with two or three others on the back burner waiting for me to dive in. My current novel seems to have generated interest with a publisher--we shall see where that goes. I completed a novel that generated no interest with anyone, but which I am currently working on converting into a computer game with a software developer friend. That's in the embryonic stages at the moment.

I have a self-publishing RPG company as a side project which I hope one day will become more than a side project.

I'm in graduate school for Library and Information Sciences, with a concentration in school librarian and media management. I just started and if this first semester doesn't kill me, nothing will.

I would love nothing more than to one day own my own gaming/book store, and/or my own cafe.

I love coffee and cafes, but am not a fan of chain cafes such as Starbucks. I think the Beehive, on Pittsburgh's South Side, is the best cafe in the world and have been a loyal customer since they had a branch in Oakland (east of Pittsburgh) back in the 90's. I could, if I had the means, just sit there all day, every day, sipping coffee or iced tea and enjoying being there. There's something about that place--when you are there, all seems right with the world. That's the type of place I'd like to one day own.

I guess that's about it for now. I'll be updating as I have things about which to gripe, bemoan, celebrate, or just ponder. Thanks.