A few weeks ago, our dog ate one of my game books. I was upset at the loss, but I took deep breaths and got over it.

Now he has done it again, to a set of books of even more sentimental and cherished value.

That’s my World of Greyhawk boxed set books and map, copyright 1983. I actually have two sets, and they were both protected in a plastic bag — not just a regular plastic bag, but in the extra thick plastic bag that the regular plastic bags come in.

I am more than “upset” with that dog. I’ll say no more so I’m not incriminated should anything happen to it. (Wishing, very hard, doesn’t count as an actual criminal act, in a court of law.)

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Picture me as a boy, about 16 years old, (27 years ago), who is a big fan and player of Dungeons & Dragons; I had been playing the game with my close and good friends for three years. D&D was a major part of my teenage life, as my primary hobby, and as a standard social activity. During those first years, I had heard of and read snippets about the World of Greyhawk — the first D&D campaign world. But the limited information given in the Dungeon Master’s Guide, several Dragon magazine articles, and various adventure modules of the late 70s and early 80s were really only tastes and teases.

When I found the boxed set for the full campaign world, I was elated! Here was the full write up, in all its glory, for the world that E. Gary Gygax, (the father of D&D), started as the base adventure locale for his game. The box contained two full-color maps that when put together were 3 feet by 4 feet — this was the biggest poster I had ever seen. It was beautiful. It was awe-inspiring. It was imagination-inspiring.

The books in the box described the nations, the natural terrain, and every little detail of the world, right down to some languages and racial dress. Even wilderness encounter charts. The inside cover of the main book had full-color illustrations of the various national and organizational helardry. This was all amazing!

One of my friends was with me at my home when I first opened the box and looked through the awesomeness revealed. We spread out the map on my living room floor and just went crazy matching up the labels on the poster with the information in the books. This was our first introduction to what a real, full D&D campaign world should be. This was our first introduction to what a real, full fantasy world should be. To us, this was bigger and better than Middle Earth.

I immediately took up using the World of Greyhawk as the campaign world for my D&D game. And later, after I started creating my own campaign world, I emulated the WoG pattern very closely.

The World of Greyhawk set — maps and books — is a very solid foundational part of my D&D gaming history, and are thereby a very solid part of my geeky being. I made sure to display one of the books and part of the map in my recent “ubergeek” photo, (just to the right of the file cabinet). These items are a treasured part of my history and life. Honestly, they are dear to me.

And now they have been destroyed by . . . *sigh*. . . a puppy. I even had two copies of the set, and the damn animal destroyed both sets of books. Thank goodness I have one of the map sets framed and hanging on the wall. (The books were sitting on a table in front of the framed maps.)

I’m heartbroken. I’m not even exaggerating for humor. I might be able to find another copy of the set, but it won’t be the same. My set is ruined. The set that I have literally held and read and loved and cherished and protected and saved for nearly 30 years is ripped to shreds.

Bullgrit

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Bullgrit

My boys, (especially Calfgrit6), love playing hide-n-seek with me in the house. They almost never ask their mom, and they never play by themselves; it’s always best with daddy. And I love playing it with them. I rock at hide-n-seek!

They prefer to be the seekers because they like trying to find me, and they don’t have the patience, themselves, to stay hidden in one place very long. When we first started playing, they’d search for me a long time, but almost inevitably, I’d have to give myself up when they were stumped. But every time I did that, I lost that spot as a viable hiding place – they’d make sure to check that spot in subsequent games. So then, instead of letting them find me when they gave up looking around, I’d just sneak out of my spot and “appear” out in the open somewhere. This let me keep my good hiding places a secret.

Sometimes I’d sneak out of a room they hadn’t checked yet and sneak into an area they’d already searched. This could keep the game going for many minutes until they grew too frustrated. A few times of this, and they got mad about it. It’s now a standard rule that I can’t do that anymore. *sigh*

Sometimes they have to get their mom into the seeking, and that’s when I get really serious about the game. Outsmarting a 6-year-old and a 9-year-old is one thing, but outsmarting an adult, well, that’s when my competitive streak shows itself. Sometimes she plays along just to help them, giving ideas, dropping hints, and such, but then there are times when she really gets into it and has to start calculating, “Where can a grown man hide in this house? Would he actually break his own limbs to fit inside that furniture?” (I might.)

The most fun moments in a game of hide-n-seek is when the boys are near me, and search all around me, (or even directly at my spot), but they fail to find me. I have to hold back the laughter when they move on to the next area or room.

One time I was hiding in Calfgrit9’s bed – it was an unmade mess of a blanket, a couple pillows, and several stuffed animals – both boys searched the bed pretty thoroughly, twice, but they failed to notice me. I was wedged down in the corner of where the bed is up against the wall, so the lump I made in the mess was relatively small. They searched that spot once early, and then again later at their mother’s suggestion, even pulling one of the pillows and a couple stuffed animals off of me, but they still didn’t find me. I scared the bejeebers out of them when I rose up with a roar while they were leaving the room. It’s now a standard rule that I can’t do that anymore. *sigh*

Then another time, I hid pretty much in plain sight: I stood up on the sink counter in their bathroom, just to the right side of the door. I had a white towel in my hands, held to cover my lower half — the part at their eye level — (towel was white, walls were white), and just stood very still. If they had done more than a cursory look in the bathroom, (in the tub behind the shower curtain), or if they had looked high, they would have spotted me, surely. But neither boy found me when they looked at separate times. Then they got Mom in on the search, and she found me after several minutes when she gave the bathroom a more thorough look, (after first looking in the tub, herself).

I must admit, too, that one reason why I like hide-n-seek in the house is that sometimes I can find a nice comfortable spot, (like in the bed), where I can just rest for a few minutes. After being ridden like a horse, chasing the boys around the yard, or playing soccer or Nerf gun tag in the cul de sac, it’s nice to be able to lay quietly under some warm blankets and pillows.

One of these games, I’m probably going to fall asleep where I hide, and put the family into a panic when they can’t find me and I don’t reveal myself. I can just imagine my wife trying to explain the situation to the police when they answer the distress call. “Yes, please officers, help us seek and find my husband. We’ve lost him somewhere in the house.”

“OK ma’am. I’ll call in the K-9 unit.”

Bullgrit

The last time I posted about my workout regimen, I was afraid I might not be able to complete the Insanity workout. Well, I pushed through, and I’m now “certified insane.”

Oh my God! Insanity is hard. It’s not even fun, it’s so hard. The P90X workout was extreme, but Insanity is just brutal. After each P90X workout, I felt good, on an endorphin high. But the Insanity workouts are sheer punishment to be endured; afterward, I was just completely worn out. But there is no denying that it can make you fit, super fit. Both regimens work well for getting real fit, real fast. (If you’re interested in learning about them, go look them up. I’m not selling or representing for the company. I’m just a very satisfied customer.)

See these pics for my results:

The thing that really surprised me the most about this whole process was how much fat I had on my body. I knew I was a bit overweight; I figured I could loose at least 10 pounds, maybe even 15 pounds. But at the end of my first 13-weeks round of P90X (the 1.0 pic above), I had lost 18 pounds of padding. I could tell I had more to loose, but I thought maybe just 4 or 5 more pounds.

After finishing about 8 weeks of a second round of P90X (the 1.5 pic above), I had lost a total of 24 pounds — 6 more beyond the 1.0 round. I was astonished at how much fat I had apparently been carrying around on my frame. I never thought I was 20+ pounds overweight. But still, I could tell I had a little more fat to shed to find my six-pack abs. But I seemed to have hit a plateau in my fitness climb; I went some weeks without loosing any fat weight.

I really, really wanted my six-pack abs. A simple desire to “get into shape” became a hard drive to get ripped; it had become the object of my mid-life crisis. Some men buy a sports car, some men pick up a girlfriend, some men run off to “find myself.” My MLC took the form of wanting a hardbody — a body as good or better than the one I had at half my current age. I wanted to be able to keep up physically with my young sons. I wanted to be able to run, jump, and climb faster, easier, and for longer, (without it costing 6 million dollars).

So in hopes of breaking my plateau with P90X, I started Insanity. Taking on a regimen of straight cardio did, indeed, overcome my plateau. In the 9 weeks of Insanity, I lost another 15 pounds for a total loss of 39 pounds. Look at those pics above, again: the “P90X 1.5” pic is 15 pounds heavier than the “Insanity 1.0” pic. That floors me. When I was at the “P90X 1.5” stage of my effort, I would have thought 15 less pounds would make me just skin and bones.

In the couple of weeks since finishing Insanity, I’ve lost another 2 pounds just because my metabolism is much higher revved than it used to be. Human physiology just amazes me.

I’ve lost 41 pounds of fat. Forty-one pounds! That’s three to four times more than I expected. And I’m not skinny — I’m lean. P90X and Insanity are not “just” weight-loss programs, they’re full body fitness. Hell, half of the P90X regimen is weight training to build muscle mass.

I feel freakin’ fantastic! I don’t want to sit on the sofa and watch TV, anymore. I want to move. I want to run, jump, and climb.

But I feel kind of weird about all this. At my core, I’m a nerd, a gamer geek. Have I turned into a jock? Well, I’m still not particularly interested in sports — watching or playing. I still like to read comic books, play RISK, and watch Star Wars.

I don’t have any urge to throw a ball, but I do enjoy push-ups. I haven’t a clue what the infield fly rule is, but I do know how many carbs I need in a day.

I want to play Dungeons & Dragons, but I don’t want to consume the Mountain Dew and Doritos that stereotypically go with a game. I’ll buy a comic book, but I’ll also flip through a fitness magazine for a couple minutes.

Well, whatever strange culture mutation I’ve become, I kind of like it. I’m having a great mid-life crisis.

Bullgrit