r o l e . p l a y

This past weekend, one of my dreams came true.

I have to confess: I've always secretly wanted to play Dungeons and Dragons. Growing up, my favourite books and movies were always ones about medieval magic and dragons (see: serendipity) and I loved to pretend that I was a princess going on quests. I also played out intricate storeis with my toys, all of whom had elaboratly constructed  histories and interpersonal relationships.

I don't remember the first time I heard about D&D; all I know is that it sounded mysterious, magical and elite...and that I wanted in. Thus, when Josh (the boyfriend) asked me if I'd be interested in starting a campaign (that's long, multi-session game playing for my fellow n00bs), I was pumped. 

I had a lot of fun playing, but there were a couple draw backs to my D&D initiation. 

Firstly, D&D is HARD yo. Creating my character (a half-elf paladin, what up) took approximately two hours; there were reference books and a ton of math involved. I basically felt like I was writing an exam the entire time. 

Once I had crafted my in-game identity, things were more fun buy still pretty tricky. As the DM (aka Dungeon Master!) reads out the story, you have to choose how to respond to certain situations and each move that your character makes is determined by the die you roll (there's more math and more referencing.) Sadly, there were several turns where my character sat around like a bump because I couldn't manage to roll high enough.

Our story took place in a post apocalyptic kingdom, recently ravaged by civil war; we battled ghouls, rescued some pesants from an evil Barron and and got attacked by jerky ghosts (who hypnotized me over and over and made me walk into a ring of fire). 

Overall, the experience was fun, albeit confusing and challenging. Hopefully next time that we play though, I'll have a better idea of what I'm doing; can't wait!

w o r d s

I seriously miss renting movies. 

I grew up in a small town. We lived in a little farmhouse with a pond and raspberry bushes in the spacious backyard.

We didn't have cable, so renting videos was always a favourite treat for my younger brother and I. My mum would often take us into town to the general store where we were each allowed to pick out a movie. The store was located in the main floor of a white house with a pillared front porch; I called it The Pumpkin People because they put pumpkin-headed scarecrows out there on Halloween. I remember there being candy, ice cream, crafts and a wall of VHS tapes.

Almost every time we visited that store, I choose the same movie to take home: Serendipity. The story centered around a little boy who, while exploring the arctic with his scientist parents, gets trapped on a iceberg which floats down to the tropics. When the ice melts, he finds a giant pink polka-dot egg, which hatches into a fuchsia and green sea-serpent named Serendipity. They live together on an island with a melancholy mermaid-princess with purple hair and annoying fantasy creatures and battle a mean, old sea-captain. I was completely obsessed and played it on a near constant loop. Having re-watched it as an adult, I seriously admire my mother's patience in allowing that to happen!

It's colourful, nonsensical and slightly annoying, but still absolutely magical to me (and the theme-song was super catchy!)