Sunday Church and Dungeons and Dragons

Sunday means church at 11. I am not rushed, but if I rise around 7, I have enough time to finish the blog. No luxuriating in bed, reading the news slowly (or doom scrolling, as we liberal call reading the politics-flooded news), and drinking a comfortable cup of coffee. Instead, I rise, put on my slippers (my feet have some numbness from the chemo and diabetes, and thus it is essential to not slam my toes into things), and find the kitchen. The coffee, assembled the night before, is waiting for me. Excellent, and I add a muffin and a banana to my start.

I enjoy the coffee (three cups!) while I write the blog and update the second chapter of my story (book). I am using Scrivener to capture my work and notes. I believe I will need notes and organizing software to write the 300,000 words I am targeting, and this tool, Scrivener, comes well rated. It also plays well with Grammarly. So far, I have found it helpful and have written my notes and some of the text. I already feel comfortable with the process and have 4,700 words; yes, 1% done.

I have left some of the boilerplates behind of late, but I stick to a narrative of my experience day-by-day, never telling someone’s story (they should tell it) and trying to focus on my emotions and the day’s events rather than politics or other easy but less fulfilling writing.

Pastor Ken’s book, The Myth of Equality: Uncovering the Roots of Injustice and Privilege, was pulled from the US Naval Academy library by order of the Secretary of Defense. Wow! I did not think I was living in the 1930s. Ken was shocked to see his name listed in the NYT as one of the impacted authors. Over 300 books were pulled by order of the Secretary of Defense; the NYT published the list. 

I have seen justification, of a sort, by folks supporting this. “You liberals pulled out religious texts and history books from libraries,” kind of statement. No, we did not (you can check with the Naval Academy–books were not banned by the Secretary of Defense in the previous administration, including the previous Trump and Bush presidencies). Liberals don’t ban books; instead, we don’t buy ’em or read ’em if we don’t like ’em.

While writing the blog, I went on Amazon, pushed a few buttons, and sent Pastor Ken’s book to the President. The gift card message was direct. I will try to get a letter out.

This is not a political statement but a real emotional moment for me. Hurting people I know is terrible. You don’t have to agree with the book, Pastor Ken, or read it, but banning it with fanfare to get headlines. Hard to imagine.

Books (and games) mean a lot to me.

After the blog is done, I shower, shave, and put on a sweater vest over my pride tie. I pick my wool brown hat as it pouring. The sunny, dry weather is gone for the next ten days, with rain most of the week. I took Air VW, the Gray, to church and was there just as the service started. I had talked to Deborah in the morning and cut my time to the limit. It is always nice to start and end my day talking to Deborah.

I sat in the pews and filled in as an usher, helping with communion and the offering. Today was an altar call for new members, and people were shocked when ten people stood up and professed their faith. Ken gave the sermon before that call and pointed out that the letter to Sardis, often used to beat up churchgoers with its “you are dead” text, suggests that anyone can be saved by repenting. As stated in the letter, those white robes will go to all who repent. He offered the altar call to anyone who felt they needed to remake their vows to the church.

After church, I headed to Red Robin for lunch. I had a Blue Moon beer and a chicken breast plater with salad. I did spoil the perfectly healthy meal with a side of French fries. I read the news mostly while eating. The bartender was a young person I did not know. I did my own checkout using the device and wished the bartender the best (with a 20% tip).

At home, I did the dishes and rested a bit. I am tired lately. I read through the new Dungeons and Dragons 2024 rules (5E is now supplanted by the 2024-5 version). I put my 5E 20th level cleric in the EV, thus avoiding leaving it and having to drive back to get it. I read more about Jutland, and I am almost at the battle of 1916. The author from 1930 is explaining his understanding and version of the events, and I did learn some new things, but without footnotes to provide sources, all is speculative. I see he is more and more often referring to another source. I found it online and ordered a copy from Amazon. I will see if I can combine these to create a better account.

Air VW the Gray gets me to M@ across Beaverton and into western Portland without issue. Deborah and I chatted for a while as I was early. Yes, I am one of those folks that sit in their car and talk.

I soon joined M@ and Nicky and had a burger supplied by M@. Matt is wearing his DM shirt, as this was supposed to be the last battle. Instead, we spend considerable time on small quests to get to the final battle. In one, we let our very charismatic bard just talk the vampire into letting us win. We tried to sneak past the guardian monsters, but at least fought them one at a time.

The big bad refused to play fair (M@ playing it) and would not stay in one place to let us finish it. This is the way it should be. As a cleric, it is my job not to bring on the damage but to heal and dispel, and I was very busy. We chased it through its maze until we began smashing the labyrinth, and this is where a super power woke, and we started over by moving back to our starting point. We were also out of time, so we will pick up the battle, likely short now that we know what to do, in May.

We also discussed our plans for the new campaign, starting after this one. Now, back to the new characters. I am leaning (now) toward playing a sorcerer, as I had never done that before. Karen will be playing a warlock. Scott, a monk (2024 Monk class is a major revision). Betsy is going for a rogue. Mackers is back to ranger class.

I put on my PJs and read more rules and some Jutland. Soon, I was falling asleep. A nightmare woke me up at 4ish, and then I remembered I had a doctor’s appointment today (it is now Monday). I texted and called Deborah (she was driving into work). It is 5ish when she rings off, reaching work. I managed to sleep again just before the 6:30 alarm. 

The dream is a jumble of my usual travel visions. I can’t get home, and everything has changed. When I found my car, it was wrecked. I am lost in the same city I often dream about. It is nowhere but a strange mix of Baltimore and Amsterdam. I wake troubled that I can’t get home in time. I am home and safe. 

Thanks for reading.