Overstressed, dead printer, living CCG

Hello again.

I’ve been under a great deal of stress lately, mostly as a consequence of wedding planning. We’ve worked hard, but we’ve gotten invitations ordered, scouted for a tuxedo, and shopped around online for a ketubah we like. The one we found is nice, but doesn’t seem artistic enough to merit $250, so we’re hesitant to commit to this one.

When we spoke with a friend of ours, Pat, she seemed very excited about our wedding, and was very enthusiastic about coming. Pat directed a couple plays I was in while at Webb, and she takes the most credit for getting Evelyn and me together. Sadly, her doctor has prohibited her from traveling, so she won’t be able to make it. I hope you get better, Pat!

On the gaming front, I’ve been putting energy into developing my CCG, Warriors, for online play through LackeyCCG. I’ve completed the commons, and threw together an inpromptu card back graphic. Warriors Online v0.3 is ready to play, so if you are interested, email me and I’ll send you the .rar file.

Ferrball’s Mansion has been delayed. My secondhand printer, a decade-old HP Laserjet III, has given me problems. The roller inside the toner cartridge has been smearing black streaks across my printings. From what I can tell, the cartridge has been damaged by my attempts to feed 110lb cardstock through it. I’ve replaced the toner cartridge, but another cardstock run damaged that one too. So I’m unable to make a clean print of anything now, and 12-year-old toner cartridges are hard to come by. FM will have to wait until I can get a new printer. I have a preference for laser over inkjet, but the ability to handle cardstock is a must.

Take care and enjoy life,
—Ryan

Welcome to 2006!

I had a relaxing holiday weekend, except for planning the New Year’s Eve party that Evelyn and I hosted. We grossly outdid ourselves with the food, including 3 pounds of cheese cubes! In keeping with a 15-year family tradition, we watched time travel movies to ring in the new year. This year, we watched 12 Monkeys and Kate & Leopold, both of which were interesting and well-made.

Much progress has been made on the wedding front. We’re preparing to order our invitations. If you want on our mailing list, please let me know now! Also, we have sealed the deal with our reception site, PJ Skidoo’s. We were even featured in the BIO section of the December 23rd edition of The Express! Don’t worry if you missed it… we saved plenty of copies!

I’ve been pouring a lot of my energy into my game designs. Ferrball’s Mansions is almost ready to make the jump to cardstock. I’m about 20% done with an online implementation of Warriors via LackeyCCG. I also got a new game from Mom as a gift, Da Vinci’s Challenge. Evelyn and I will have to give it a try soon.

This week’s internet toy: Frappr.

Well, gotta go! As usual, SDG and Icehousegames.org need my help. Take care!