I’m writing this because I have good friends that ask about me. I want to write it only once, instead of several times in individual emails.

I have not written in seven days. Not much has really happened in those seven days, thus nothing to really write about. Kelcy’s site is dead for nine days, now. I update the scoreboard as I find out who’s on one side of the line and who’s one the other. Nonny’s not up to much and even the Delphites are not as juiced as usual.

I’ve written about Ephesians, but it’s on paper. That dooms it from appearing on the site as I am a terrible transcriptionist. I’ll try. I plan on adding the study of 1 Thessalonians and Galatians as well.

I did not write about the Chick-Fil-A(TM) Chronicles yet, my buddy beat me to it..

Mostly, my employer has been in the national news, so I’ve been on the down-low. The last thing I need is for the national media to start contacting me. I don’t think they would, but why invite trouble at this point? If I had this or the church issues to contend with, well, bring the noise. With both, however, I do not feel up to the challenge. First I’ll deal with church issues, then maybe the local and national media.

I meet with the minister tomorrow morning. Either way, the previous posts will return along with the conclusion of the matter. I did a little posting amongst the Delphites, but mostly to defend the minister from some off-the-wall accusations.

My son is doing well, he’s up to three hours a day with the hearing aid. He continues to laugh about so many things that I have started laughing a bit as well. I keep trying to tell him that mommy and daddy are beyond broke, but he just thinks life is grand. I agree.

I am pensive these days. I think too much, but that surprises no one. I enjoy my son and my wife. I’m glad to live in a place with some greenery – my son loves to touch the saplings planted in our yard. It’s our afternoon ritual.

As I embark on working two jobs, I still believe that I’ll have time to write. Writing keeps me sane, for the most part, so it is like breathing to me.

For the past few days, I’ve been writing information for a magic/superhero system for the Action! System RPG. I think my ideas are a bit different without being overly complicated. The meme for the magic system is based on a more Japanese cosmology. It makes for some interesting situations. For example, there are healers that treat wounds and healers that treat disease. There is no all-in-one-healer/medic class as seen in most games. (Consequently, there is not one spell that heals all diseases. I always hated that about D&D.) There are also only five schools of magic, based on elemental focus. Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Void. Earth spells deal with the earth, but also with healing wounds and the body. Air deals with the mind, but it also deals with growth of all kinds. Fire spells deal with light and heat, but also deals with animals of all kinds (except marine creatures). Water spells deal with plants, in addition to blood, healing diseases and marine life. The Void deals with those things outside current perception, the stars and other celestial bodies. Unlike many other systems, a person can have more than one focus. The schools serve more as a means of classification than anything else.

Any given spell is invoked with its elemental focus. To that focus is added a verb that describes the action. To the verb is added an object to receive the effects of the spell. The last word gives some indication of the effect desired. The subject is assumed to be the caster. Only extraordinary wizards can cast a spell ‘as someone else’. Spells use their own language and wizards converse in that language frequently. Fortunately, a wizard must first learn to invoke magic with la kela lenge, the magical voice and focus the energy through a token (such as a wand or amulet) to cast a spell. To start a small fire (say for camping), the wizard would invoke la kela lenge, focus energy through a wand (or other token), say muta ambas hakain muja (create very small fire over there) and make an appropriate gesture pointing to a specific place, thus igniting the pile of wood (or whatever you point at) for the campfire. If the wood was green or it was otherwise wet, the wizard may change the last word to mbala to produce a slightly stronger effect. In actual play, you do not have to use Lengo (the language).

So, I’ve been busy, just not around. Needed to have some mental play before getting down to bid-ness, if you know what I mean.

See you soon.