Skyrim. Blame Skyrim.

I'm sorry dear readers that I haven't posted anything of late, but my brother did me the disadvantage of buying me Skyrim, the latest of the The Elder Scrolls video game series, and dear sweet merciful Tolkien did they ever make a fabulous game.  I usually not as much of a fan for something this superiorly open-ended in a fantasy RPG, but this is AMAZING!  It's a beautiful world that is constantly engaging and unique.

My steam account is d20Sapphire, if you want to friend me on their just say you're a fan of the blog when you do and I'll friend you, and then you'll get to see the tons of screenshots I have taken from that game with my Khajit named Akousa.  I'll post some pictures up here on the near future.

Other awesome nerdy Christmas gifts:  More RAM for my netbook thanks to Mystic, Batman: Arkham Asylum also from my brother, and zombie slippers courtesy of my friends in central IL.  Overall, it was an awesome haul.  Did any of you get awesome nerdy presents?  Feel free to let me know in the comments so I can tell you how jealous I am.

A new year, new posts and hopefully more time toward table-top is my new years resolution.  Hooray for 2012!

Christmas in the Future

Merry Christmas, readers!

The only reason I'm writing on Christmas is because the rest of my family is sleeping away, including Mystic who was nice enough to join my immediate family for Christmas morning this year.  Being the first one awake means you wait until everyone else is up to open presents.

Writing my Titania Chronicles story has had me pondering in the future if there will be a Christmas?  Will it be culturally significant?  Will it fade away?

There are plenty of holidays that have remained through time and have merely evolved for the needs of the people.  Christmas is actually a good example of that.  Christmas used to be a simple holiday where you ate with friends if you were lucky enough to have the day off.  The super conservative Christians didn't even celebrate Christmas, and even tried to outlaw it in Britain.  Although the holiday had been around for a long time, it wasn't until the 19th century that it culminated into something close to what we have today.  It was molded into a day where one could spend time with family and friends with dinner and dances and games.  Gift exchange became popular at that time too.  In an era where strict rules on children seemed necessary (depending who was doing the raising, of course), it was nice to have a day where one could spoil one's family.

I think in this fashion, Christmas in the future will exist on Earth, and will probably evolve even more.  There may even come a day where there is a strict division in the kind of celebrations families have.  But I think as long as we remain on Earth, there will be some form of Christmas celebrated.

I think it's when you leave Earth, and start to colonize other planets, that the tradition of Christmas will probably fade away.  Christmas is strongly associated with the winter season, and to lose that change of season is to lose a lot of it.  Also, who will know how long it will take to establish the kind of community who can afford the gift giving on Christmas on a new planet.  It's going to take decades of investment to colonize planets, and they're not going to be ready for the kind of commercialism we have on parts of Earth right away.  On top of the fact many of the traditions are rooted in thinks unique to earth--snow, Christmas trees, holly, mistletoe, poinsettias--that recreating it all is going to be artificial, and I'm sure the first colonialists will feel that way.  Feasts won't be readily available.  Christmas, in it's entirety of the experience, will not be available.

Now I need someone from the future to tell me if my predictions are correct.

Nerd Christmas Questions

Is the star on the top of your tree a red dwarf?  White dwarf?  Is it a giant?  Bigger than the sun?

Does it have planetary bodies circling it?  A lot?  Asteroid belt?  Is there anything in the habitable zone?  Is it inhabited? Natives?  Or alien colonialization?

How far is it from earth?  How many light years away is it?

How old is it?  Just out of the nebula?  About to become a black hole?

Just something to think about as you decorate for Christmas.

The Nerdification of Christmas

As I've gotten older, I've realized that I have affected the Christmas present shopping in my household.  And it's kind of for the better, at least in my opinion.

I have expressed my love of Think Geek here before.  But it's become somewhat of a family staple.  It all started around my sophomore year of college, where I had just discovered the site and did a wish list.  My mother was just looking for something easy to get me for Christmas, and that was really easy.  And then she kind of got sucked into the site.  That Christmas she got something from that site for everyone.

That was just the beginning.

Now almost everyone ordered from Think Geek this year.  My mom got me the Ingenui-tea tea brewer, which I find the handiest thing in the friggin' world.  My brother got everyone's gifts from there, including my d20 fuzzy dice for my new car.  However, he was following my lead, since I have done that every year for the past three years now.  I got whiskey stones for my dad, caffeinated goodies for my mom, and personal soundtrack shirt for my brother.  For the Boyfriend, a golf shirt with an 1-UP mushroom on it.

I think, combined with a couple of strange gifts for my friends, this was the nerdiest Christmas haul I ever had.  I even got a book set in the new Starfleet Academy cast from the recent Star Trek movie.  I expect it to be enjoyable trash.

With the new friends and the gifts from one of the nerdiest sites on the internet, I think Chirstmas is going to continue to be full of geeky goodness.

Christmas in Solaria

Santa was still getting used to Christmas in space

Traveling with spacesuits and rockets in place

Reindeer and elves back on earth with Ms. Claus

He thought of them fondly during a brief pause

He had finished with Earth, the Moon and Mars

Halfway through his journey through the stars

Solaria was next on the delivery list

He set the coordinances with a flick of his wrist

He saw only one place with children that play

Who would love presents on Christmas day

He set off with his usual joy and cheer 

With hopes of a great Space Christmas this year

When Santa landed, vast lands around

Not a creature was stirring, not a single sound

Except one lone woman, standing outside

Oblivious to Santa, carrying pride

Santa checked the list, Klorissa her name, 

Good this year, good genes her fame

Or so she thought, but Santa knew

He job was thankless, through and through

She toiled hard all year around

Rarely making a complaining sound

To anyone, but now one could see,

Only view the stress done to she

Solaria was not a place of a mom and a dad

But robots to watch children be good and bad

No families, just structure, Klorissa the only one

To watch every daughter and every son

Each child had every toy ever made

But human affection would soon fade

No mother's hugs, no father's games

And soon playing with children would not be the same

By a certain age they would view

Every single person they ever knew

Klorissa the only person who could even touch

Even then she didn't give much

Just discipline to all the boys and girls

The only real parent on this world

How could she know to give them more?

She didn't know what a mom and dad were for

She never had one, never saw the need 

Just thought children were to protect and feed

Robots could do both within the three laws 

Keep children safe, feed eager maws

Put them to sleep when the time was right

Watch ever step, stop every fight

Klorissa was there when robots wouldn't do

And she didn't do much, that Santa knew

There was no one gift for each, Santa did fear

That wasn't already in front of them here

He snuck past Klorissa when he could 

And found out where all kids, bad and good

Were staying, and the control for their rooms

He'd have to open all of them, and soon

He snuck past robots standing duty

He hid in the shadows, his suit still sooty

From houses before, where families had love

Not where the only man who cared was from above 

Who would come and give presents once a year

Santa knew what Solaria children wanted this year

Klorissa went to bed, robots on standby

He went to the controls, easy as pie,

Opened every room and went to the halls

That were miles away in the complex mall

Where all the children were bred and raised

Where only genetics were worshiped and praised

Not love, and affection, and family where one

Could teach and hold each daughter and son

The children, surprised, went along with the happenings, 

Knew to expect presents in wrappings,

Instead they found Santa, in his classic suit

Red with white trim, and shiny black boot

They ran to him, the younger ones first

Screaming out in one jovial burst

The older ones were taught of the fear of germs 

The idea crawled under their skin like worms

But they were intrigued, an adult that smiled

At the eyes of every single child

Santa urged them over, and began to say

"I simply came over to see you and play

And teach you how to be good boys and girls

Like parents do on other spacer worlds

We can do it again next year if you like

I won't get you sick, which is in spite

of what you were taught, I made myself clean

There will not be a hurting stomach or spleen."

He gave a big grin, which every child returned

The only adult that showed them concern

And from there the games began

They clapped and sang and laughed and ran

And Santa taught lessons to each child

How to be nice and not too wild

They played for hours, until everyone was tired

The sun was close, night had expired

Santa wished them "Merry Christmas, see you next year!

And to all on Solaria, good cheer!"

The children waved by as he went to his sleigh, 

Some started to cry, knowing today

They would go back to no contact, no family

Klorissa and the robots were all they could be

But not enough to fill their hearts

With gloved hands and metallic parts

They knew that next year, Santa would come

And play again all the fun games they had done

Santa packed up the sleigh, went up to the sky

Seeing some little ones still waving bye

He looked to a letter and gave a smile,

One from a good boy who had been a man for a while

Plainsclothesman Elijah gave the heads up

About the children who had no ma or pop

And suggest a parent on Christmas Eve

And tonight, that's what Santa came to be

He'd left good gifts for Elijah on Earth,

Knowing what a thoughtful idea was worth

But he still had to take care of children near and far,

So Santa started the sleigh, and headed for the stars

_________________________________________

For those of you who have read Asimov's The Naked Sun, I hope you appreciate my spontaneous poem for the season.  Recovering from the busy week at work has my creative juices flowing again.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!  And once again, avoid the Krampus!

-d20 Sapphire

How I Found Out About the Krampus Last Year

Once again I hope you all aren't visited by that beast. However, I really didn't know about him until last year, after this christmas episode:





If you haven't seen the Venture Bros. before, you can thank me later.  Watch the full special here.

Happy Atheist Children Get Presents Day!

Or more traditionally, Merry Christmas!

I hope you were all visited by Santa, and not by the Krampus.

Santa did get me the bag of holding for Christmas.  He also got me this awesome t-shirt.  Nerdtastic.  What great stuff did you guys get?

Today I'm going to hang out with family, then hang out with some more family, then I'm getting ready to go on a very geeky vacation.  I really need a vacation considering the stress of the last year at school, so I'm excited.  I may also not post something every day like I have been.  Don't miss me too much.

Once again, Happy Holidays!

-d20 Sapphire

5 Last Minute or Belated Christmas Present Ideas.

Let's just get right to it.

For the RPG lover who also loves inside jokes:

The Bag of Holding

This was an easy choice for me.  I was raised on Dungeons and Dragons, and one of the most useful items in the game is the Bag of Holding.  ThinkGeek was smart enough to make one for us when we're not rolling dice at the gaming table.  This messenger bag comes with 6 useful compartments, that can hold everything from your laptop to your character sheet.  It practically is a transdimensional space that will hold everything you need.  I personally asked for this for Christmas.  This is great for nerdy college students or business geeks who don't like briefcases.  You can buy it here, and if you haven't explore thinkgeek.com I suggest you do.  There's something on that site for everyone.  I'm serious, the last two years I got my family's presents there.  Then again, I was raised by some serious nerds.

For the gadget geek that needs more than just a phone:

The Blackberry Storm

I'm not going to lie, I'm not the biggest gadget person.  That's more of my mom's thing.  But if I were to get her a touch screen phone, I'd get her this one.

Personally, I am an Apple fan.  But I don't think the iPhone is the be-all-end-all of phones.  It looks sexy and is a good product.  I refuse to get one though because I've had horrible experiences with AT&T all my life.  The Blackberry Storm is great if you don't want to go the iPhone route.  First of all it does everything the iPhone does, but its more user friendly with its touch interface.  When you touch a key it will be highlighted and it will click without actually responding.  Just hold your touch or double-click for the button to respond.  This saves a lot of time and you don't have as many errors when you text, when you're editing documents (more on that) or even just navigating through the main screen.  

This is even better if you're a business person, because you can view and edit Microsoft Word, Excel, or Powerpoint documents on it.  Need to read that report before you board the plane?  Need to edit your presentation before you send it to your project leader?  No problem.  It's great for quick fixes like that.  Heck, as a student I know of times when I have needed something like that.  I'm a simple phone woman myself, but if I were to get an all-in-one product, I would go with the Blackberry Storm.  Also,  the Storm is sold through Verizon who, in my experience, has been a lot more reliable than the other phone companies I've dealt with.

For the girlfriend who doesn't get video games:

Boom Blox

Okay, not just girlfriends, but you know what I mean.  Every geek has that one friend who just doesn't get video games.  She doesn't understand why you can spend hours playing WoW and not feel guilty about wasting your time.  She doesn't get how fun it is to try to unlock every achievement or to take on a boss with almost no health left.  You try to show her, let her play Call of Duty on easy, or even talk her through Super Mario Galaxy.  I mean everyone loves Nintendo as a non-gamer, right?  But she still doesn't get it, and she just walks away frustrated, throwing the controller down and storming off to do... well whatever people do when they don't have video games.  I haven't quite figured out what that is yet.

(p.s., I know there are guys like this too.  Don't worry, I'm not a horrible sexist.)

Boom Blox is a great bridge for that gap.  First of all, it has a very simple interface and is a great example of when the Wiimote's advantages are best utilized.  Second, the goals in the game are easy to obtain and don't require the same hand-eye coordination that an FPS or a Platformer might.  All you do is move around blocks, either by throwing balls or pulling blocks out Jenga style.  It's fun with groups, but also has a great story mode.  I love this game for its simple sense of what's fun and being able to bean the blox dudes on the side when I'm tired knocking down blocks.  With the added bonus of being able to make your own levels, this game is hours of fun.  

For the hardcore gamer who's been living under a rock:

Fallout 3

 

If you love an FPS with a great story and a tons character choices, and you haven't played this game, what's wrong with you?  The overall experience of this game is great.  The post-apocalyptic landscape of Washington, D.C. serves as a great terrain for your character who has only seen daylight at age 19.  You play a person who has lived in a vault, and was planning on staying there too if your dad didn't run away to the wasteland outside.  As any good child you go to try and find him while discovering what happened to America after the nuclear holocaust from years ago.  In almost the same vain as Mass Effect, you're able to shape you character from day one, and continue to throughout the game, by the choices you make and who you decide to align with.  

Just play it already.  If you haven't, why not?

For the fanboy who loves the color black

The Dark Knight

I'm not a comic book person.  I didn't grow up with Batman.  I was more of a TNMT kid.  Yet I love The Dark Knight.  I would have this movie's bastard children if such a thing was biologically possible.  Christopher Nolan has served us a great moral play for the modern audience.  Even though it's a sequel it stand on its own.  (Although, if you haven't seen Batman Begins, you should.  Right now.  I mean it.)  Its a well written script with great acting all around.  Heath Ledger's last performance is fantastic, but you can't forget Christian Bale, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Morgan Freeman... everyone delivered in my opinion.  Rarely do you get a movie this good in American cinema that also just literally kicks ass.  To top it off, it was shot in my hometown of Chicago, which fits the Gotham setting perfectly.  In all honesty, you could get this DVD for almost anyone and they would love it.  It's just that good of a story.

If none of that helped you...

Bonus idea

For the geek who you have no idea what to get:

Dice

I hope you all know that I'm serious.

If you are getting a gift for a RPG lover, this is useful, and it will appreciated.

The weird thing about dice is that they are kind of fascinating, even if you don't game.  They come in so many shapes and sizes and colors.  A lot of them have different functions too, for example there are dice out there with different smiley faces on each side.  Those are NPC mood dice, which are usually used by GMs who are particularly lazy about figuring out the mood of their flavor characters.  If you don't know half of what I said in the last sentence, it doesn't matter anyway because that is still a fun thing to play with if you don't game.  Think about it.  Your boos gives you some bad news, you don't know how to react.  Roll the dice and see what mood to be in!  Okay, that's actually bad business advice, but this is a nerd blog, not a how-to-keep-your-job blog.  

The point is that the variety of dice out there make it easy to pick out any combination of which someone will at least find interesting enough as a gift.  I find that my dice are a conversation piece amongst a lot of people who don't get gaming, and it turns out a lot of people think its kind of neat that I collect them.  So at least you're getting that person who you have no idea what to get something that's "kind of neat".