Hello 2021, Good Riddance 2020

Welcome 2021.  May you be a damned sight better than the past year.  2020 can now be relegated as hindsight, a lesson in what not to do.

Happy New Years!

December Already?

Wow, where did the time go?  My last post was in September.  Time for some catching up.

First, I'm still alive.

October came and went.  I ordered 1.8kg of spearmint leaves candy, mostly for use during NaNoWriMo.  There's still half a box left.

November was NaNo.  I wound up going with Total Security Concepts, which is now set in the Subject 13 universe.  Total words was 50 262.  What I'm finding is that I can write at a decent pace, 2000 to 2500 words a night, provided I have time off to recharge.  This matches up with my writing for Lost in Translation, where it takes me two days to write a 1500 word review.  I up my game for NaNo, and I've figured out how to pacce myself for the marathon.

Total Security Concepts began as a look at how normal people in a world of superpowers defend themselves.  It then turned into a murder mystery that included corporate meetings.  One character went from just having a superheroic ID to being lead investigator.  It was fun writing the story just to see where it went.  The result is satisfying but will need a bit of time to congeal before I serialize it here.

Sneak peak of the minis
to come, with the
bulette.

Miniatures painting fell to the wayside.  NaNo doesn't really leave time for anything extra, especially when work is still a thing.  Work is still going, so here's hoping I get through to two years on the current contract.  My main goal with work is to get to the two year mark.  After that, I'll feel better.  I won't be changing unless something permanent or interesting comes up.  For interesting, this contract got back to me before a potential six month contract in Iqaluit, Nunavut had.  I would've jumped on the Iqaluit contract, especially with its potential for an extension.  It'd be different.

Lost in Translation is still going strong.  The pandemic prevents one of my main methods of looking for review fodder - checking the rows of DVDs at the music store.  I may have a secondary method, but it's going to need refining.  I have five potential reviews for the new year, once the end-of-year posts are done.  There may be news related to Lost in Translation coming up in the New Year.  Stay tuned.

Coming up, more Lost in Translation, possibly a serial in January, and hopefully some gaming posts.  I want to get a comparison of Cyberpunk 2020 and Shadowrun characters done.  I also want to create a character or two for Shadowrun Sixth World.  Maybe during some down time during the holidays.  Minis will get finished at some point.

Today, over at Psycho Drive-In, Quantum Leap - "A Leap to Di For".

Saturday, over at The Seventh Sanctum, Wrapping up 2020

Prohibition, Corruption, and Repeating History

Over the past couple of months, I'd been reviewing the various works based on The Untouchables, the team of Prohibition agents gathered by Eliot Ness to take down Al Capone and his South Side Gang.  One thing that kept popping out, whether it was from the 1959 series, the 1987 movie, or the 1993 syndicated series - the biggest problem of the era was corruption, not alcohol.

This is going to be my impression of events, past and current.  I may have things wrong.  The source of the problem was lawlessness, but the problem was money.  It's a problem that's still around, maybe worse today.  Time to dig deeper.