A Quick Update

    I've been making some significant changes to my life recently, which has ended up with me being off-line more than usual - but I haven't forgotten about the blog, and I appreciate everyone who has been visiting it.  I do have some more posts I'm working on, but likely it will be at least a few weeks before I can get them done and published.  As a quick review though:
    I saw Captain America: Civil War, love it, it was everything I was hoping Batman v Superman would be (not a big fan of BvS overall, though it did have a few great moments).
    Watching The Mentalist again after getting my girlfriend hooked on it, still one of my favorite TV shows (along with Leverage, Castle, White Collar - to stick with the crime genera).
    Been running and doing Pilates (my girlfriend is a Pilates instructor) and trying to lose weight.  Bad about tracking it, but dropped at least 10 pounds, and 4" waist size, so while I really don't like working out I do like the results.
    Still reading blogs, and loving stuff by the Angry GM.
    And a lot of personal stuff, some of which I may talk about down the road.  Hope you all are doing well, and I will post something more meaningful as soon as I can :)

A Great Article About Being Poor

    Lifehacker is one of the sites I visit every day.  You can find all kinds of great articles about how to do all sorts of things in day to day life.  So when I read this article I had to link to it myself.

Being Poor Is Too Expensive - Lifehacker

    This isn't the usual tips and tricks, instead it's a very interesting look at some of the difficulties of being poor.  The thing is, in my experience, being homeless or poor is actually a lot harder than most people think.  There are a lot of different factors at work, not just economic but also often psychological.  The stereotype is that homeless people are alcoholics, but actually mental illness may be far more common.
    So what? I hear you ask.  Well, nothing really.  This is just a great look into a lifestyle that hopefully you cannot relate to yourself - if so you have led a blessed life.  If you have been there, well it's just kind of nice to know that you haven't been the only one.

Post #101

    I kind of clebrated my almost 3rd year and almost 100th post (think it was #93) a little while ago.  So I didn't want to distract my actual 100th post and just past 3rd year in my really long breakdown of 13th Age.  But here, let me say it, happy birthday to me for hitting 100 posts and 3 years since starting the blog.  Crazy but fun.
    Also, I wanted to write because I added a "Pathfinder" tag and so had to go back and re-tag a whole bunch of old posts - apologies if that means your feed reader pulled up a duplicate of any old material.  I should have made that particular tag a long time ago but somehow over-looked it.
    Not much to say, hope you are all doing well :)

Almost Three Years

    Oh my goodness, I was poking around the blog and realized that next month is going to be my three year anniversary.  With only 92 posts I have not exactly been busy (or consistent) in posting over those years (only slightly better than 1 post a month, ouch, that's a terrible schedule).  I have enjoyed having this blog, even though according to my stats not many people read it - except for my post on the Marvel Heroes Easter Egg hunt, that was my managing to get something out at just the right time, and felt pretty cool to be one of the first blogging/writing about the event.
    In all, looking back, the last three years have been pretty crazy.  Finding the motivation to work on the blog has been hard - between wondering if anyone cared and not playing any games as often as I'd like - but it has always been nice to know that it is there.  I have so many crazy ideas bouncing around in my head, I can't stop them, about games and such that it is nice to have someplace to let them roam free.  I don't know if the next three years are going to be much better than the last in terms of content, but I'll try.  Currently my old MicroLite Fantasy idea is merging with 13th Age and Fate Accelerated Edition into some sort of Frankenstein Monster that I am only beginning to understand.  All while I'm looking for a new job, and dealing with the ending of a relationship (through my own damn fault).  So the next three years are likely to be just as crazy.
    I do want to say though, to my gently readers, thank you.  Thank you for checking out my little corner of crazytown - even if you don't want to stay I appreciate the visit.  And for any long term readers out there, thank you very much for keeping an eye out on my humble blog.  I hope I have managed to write something you found thought provoking or at least amusing.

Someone Else's Christmas Thoughts ('cause they're better than my own)

    This has been a terrible year.  After starting by losing my Grandfather to cancer, to losing a High School friend and roommate to cancer, to my Aunt discovering she had cancer and my sweetheart's Grandfather dying from cancer - it has been rough.
    Now, to help take the edge off things I like to read Cracked.com, it's a comedy website that also tends to have some really cool and thought-provoking articles.  I'm going to link to one of them below, because I think it's just perfect for this time of the year - and it hit me deeper than I'm sure it will most other people:

http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-true-meaning-christmas-that-everyone-forgets/

Women vs Cosplay Kickstarter

    A friend of mine is involved in the inaugural Kickstarter for the Women vs Cosplay calendar.  As a general geek myself I want to give them a shout-out and encourage any readers of mine to check out their site:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/anabelmartinez/women-vs-cosplay-2015-gaming-calendar-project

    I think that Kickstarter is awesome for how it allows smaller projects like this to get started.  Best of luck to them on meeting their funding goals.

Some new posts coming soon

    This year has been horrible.  Just horrible.  Thus, there have not been many posts from me in a long time.  I am not gone however (in the off chance anybody out there cares).  I do have a few more posts I should be writing soon.  My friends and I have almost finished the Rise of the Runelords campaign for Pathfinder, and I have some thoughts on it, as well as on the state of Pathfinder in general.  Also we are going to try a new game, maybe 13th Age or D&D 5th ed, or both, which I'll talk about after we get around to them.  Not many new movies coming out, but I may review a few old ones I am catching up on.  So there will be some more activity in the future days and weeks, though nothing on any kind of fixed schedule.

A Brief Word After The Long Silence

    Wow, 2013 ended on a really bad note for me- then 2014 started worse.  Someone very dear to me died last year, and my Grandfather whom I've been living with died this month.  The holiday season always sucks, has for a long time, and continued that trend last year.  So things have not been going terribly well, which led to the blog getting pushed onto the back burner.  I'm going to try to finish the projects I started and post something soon, most of the drama has died down so I can think again.  But, for the one or two of you who have followed this blog, I'm still around and while things have been bad I'm hopeful that they will soon turn around.  So, for my gentle readers, please stay tuned and I apologize for the delay.

Obamacare - The Only Thing Really Wrong With It

    Force.
    That's it, really, that's the biggest problem with the whole system - force.  Everyone is forced into using it.  It's being forced on private and public sector alike.  It's the government using its absolute power, the ability to force people to do something.
    I don't want to get into a political rant here.  It's just something on my mind since I am one of the many people without health care, and thus it is something I'll have to deal with soon.  I've been looking into it, on-line since the news programs have not been much help, and so thought I'd comment on it - from my own point of view, of course.

    Providing health care is a noble goal.  That, I think, would be hard for anyone to dispute.  But as with all goals, the real proof is not in the principle but in the exceptions.  Life and Liberty are noble goals, but we regularly deny them to those who commit crimes.  And rightly so.  Because a principle is nice, but not always applicable, there are times when it needs to bend and flex a little.  Too much bending and it breaks, but too little and it is a straight-jacket instead of strengthening.
    Which leads me to thinking about my own condition.  I would like to have health insurance, in principle.  I don't though for a variety of practical reasons.  Right now I don't have a job, I'm living with my Grandfather helping him out.  He found out he had cancer when someone finally looked at his x-rays and saw that his right femur had been eaten away.  They put a titanium rod in the bone to strengthen it, and then discovered that the cancer had spread there from his kidneys, one of which has a tumor in it.  A fun thing to find out on your birthday.  So while he was in rehab I came out here, having moved close-by recently and not having anything I couldn't set aside.  That was about three months ago.  I do the driving, shopping, cooking and cleaning.  Grandpa is home, and doing very well overall, but that could change at any time.  Plus he's 83 years old, so he is not as strong and vigorous as when he was driving a tank in his youth.  I don't mind helping him out, I'm glad I could since it would have been a major burden on anyone else in my family and a great risk for him to be alone without any constant support.
    So, needless to say, I do not have any health insurance.  Grandpa gives me a little money, and covers all my living expenses, so I am really doing fine.  I've been looking around, but the only jobs I could get would be part-time, and that would not provide health insurance either.  Being a 30-something-or-other couch potato, I am not in the best shape, but I'm not doing too bad.  I always figured if I had some sort of health problem I'd just have to deal with it.  I know that you can go to the emergency room, but I have no intention or, or desire to, do so.  But now comes Obamacare (the Affordable Care and Whatever-Else-We-Had-To-Call-It Act is too long) and the public exchanges open up next week.  According to what I've found, the lowest coverage for me in Arizona will be around $100 per month.  Which will pose something of a problem as I do not make that much money.  If I do get a part-time job (also, not as easy as one might imagine in a smaller town) that will represent a fairly good chunk of what I make.  And that's just the monthly cost.  No details are out yet, but I'm sure there are co-pays and then prescription drug costs that you have to pay yourself.  Which means that even though I'll have insurance, I won't actually be able to afford to use it.  Also, I don't want to use it.  When I did have health insurance in the past all I did was get a checkup, a tetanus shot, and see the dentist - I don't like going to the doctor.  Not sure if there will be dental plans, they may mean "health" as only the body and not the teeth (again, a scarcity of details at the moment).

    So, quite frankly, I want no part of this system.  It does me no definite good, just a theoretical good in the event of an accident or something that I survive.  In exchange for the definite hardship of coming up with money I don't have.  Not a good economic trade-off.
    Except, to get back to the thrust of my article, for the fact that I am being forced into it.  I have no choice.  I could put it off for a year, and pay a penalty of $95 at tax time, putting it off two years raises the penalty to $200+ dollars and three years $600+.  So sooner or later you join or you suffer.  Though, if you join you also suffer, so you're just screwed either way.
    What I don't understand is this: if this is going to be a better system, if it going to improve everyone's lives, why isn't it voluntary?  If it's the better choice, then people will take it.  It doesn't need to try so hard.  Also, like so many other programs, if it's such a good idea, why isn't every Senator, Judge, and even the President required to take it also?  Why can't they practice what they preach?  If it's a good thing, shouldn't it either naturally attract people, or if it has to be forced, shouldn't it be forced on everyone - including those in power?  If it's so wonderful, why march people to it at gun-point?
     Anyways, since it is forced, I will have to join along with so many others.  I am not in a rush though, things have a tendency of changing, so I'll wait until around December to let some of the bugs shake lose before going to join.  Hopefully that will also give me enough time to figure out how I'm going to pay for something I didn't ask for in the first place.

Invisible Tragedy

    There's something I wanted to comment on, taking a break from my last few game-related posts and looking at the real world for a second.  I'm currently living in Prescott Valley, Arizona helping my Grandpa (some day I'll update my Google Profile that still says Colorado).  Last month there was a terrible fire in the nearby city of Yarnell that killed 19 firefighters.  All of the men were members of an elite "hotshots" crew and they were the entire team (except for one person who survived because he was on lookout and not with the others).  There was a gigantic and immediate outpouring of support, with fundraisers at the local bars, museums, BBQ joints, supermarkets, special concerts held, and even a massive memorial at the local concert hall that had the Vice President among the other dignitaries.  According to the paper, over $11 million were raised in only a few weeks.  It was a great and noble thing that the community did, and that I'm sure went around the world as well (the local paper just talks about local charities after all).
    So I feel a little like a creep to poke at it, but I will.  First, while the 19 firefighters were killed, and that is a tragedy of course, there were also many who lost their homes (about 100 I believe) in Yarnell, homes and possessions now burnt to ash.  Again, of course, it's better to be alive and broke than dead - but being suddenly homeless is a pretty big shock to the system (take it from someone who knows) and being homeless with your entire family is harder still.  These may be "little tragedies" but they are no less tragic for it.  Some of the hotshots were classified as part-time workers, and when the wife of one of them went on the news because she and the other survivors will not be receiving as much in death benefits - that story almost drowned out the fact that the federal government was not going to send any aid to the city of Yarnell to rebuild.  A recent story was about the money raised and how the groups in charge of it were trying to decide how to split it and hiring tax advisers to help those who receive it invest or otherwise use it wisely.  Again though, what about all the people who now have to rebuild homes and replace a lifetime's worth of possessions and memories?
    What bugs me, and maybe it's because I'm just a terrible person, is that while all this attention is going to something tragic, there are lots and lots of equally tragic things that nobody bothers to look at or talk about or start massive fundraisers for.  The same day those firefighters were killed women were being raped, people were being murdered by people they knew, husbands were burying wives, drunk drivers were destroying property, and, well, all the craziness and horror that is life was going on all around us.  The sorts of day in and day out horror that we've just become immune to, not even desensitized, but forgotten.  Death, loss, pain, crime, these are day to day events around the world.  Yet no one cares (except for the victims of course), no massive pushes or organizations because these things are everywhere.  Dog bites man isn't a story, but man bites dog is - so the old newspaper saying goes.  And while the families of the firefighters have lost husbands, who were possibly the main source of income as well, and thus some financial support would be a blessing indeed - again I can't help but wonder about all those smoking ruins that were once homes and think that they could use a little financial support too.  Bigger still, what about all the other, unseen tragedies that could use some help?
    Thing is, I flashback to several years ago when I first lived in Colorado. I was volunteering for The Tollgate (run by Cross and Clef Ministries), a day shelter for the homeless, where I was the cook (I was homeless too at the time).  We had a close partnership with WINN Ministries (whom I would also volunteer for later) who provided a lot of food and general support.  That year I believe it was a tsunami and a hurricane (my memory is faulty on the specifics, too long ago).  So people were flooding the Red Cross and the Salvation Army with donations for those tragedies.  But money donated there was money not donated to small, local non-profits like us.  We had a very, very bad year - and in fact the Tollgate would close.  We never had any national news talking about the homeless (except in derogatory ways of course), WINN was trying to unite and mobilize churches to help their neighborhoods and never a peep about them.  These were silent tragedies that the two groups, along with countless others throughout the nation, were working to help.  Day in and day out.  Because tragedies happen day in and day out.  I just wish that the people who donate to these big events, the tragedies that make the national news, would instead split their money in half.  Donate half to the big event, and donate the other half to a local non-profit or charity - because the invisible tragedies leave behind just as much suffering as the ones that draw headlines, and in every neighborhood there is somebody, some group, that is trying to help those not fortunate enough to get a spotlight when tragedy strikes them.

Helping my Grandpa

    Not that I was ever good about posting regularly, but recently there has been a long gap because I am staying with my Grandpa.  We found out he has cancer, and it went unnoticed for far too long.  He had to have some surgery, but is recovering and doing very well.  Still, I am staying with him, and do not have internet access at his house.  So the posts are going to be even slower than usual, but I will try to write something from time to time (in the off chance anybody cares).

Hello World

    My name is Christopher, and I am The Homeless Nerd.  I moved to Denver, CO in April of 2012 and things did not go the way I planned.  Now I'm living on the streets.  But even though I may be unemployed, for the moment, I still want to do something meaningful.  I don't panhandle or fly a sign.  Instead, I've decided to share what I know with anyone who'll listen.  So, on this blog I am going to talk about being homeless (something I'm sure few people have experienced themselves), I'm also going to share my development of my role-playing game, Travellers Beyond, and my knowledge of computers, which I teach.  Hopefully you can find something interesting, amusing or even informative here.