The Queek Files

Let's all get into the wayback machine and imagine it's June of 2017. Our hero/ine (me); has a great relationship, a steady M-F office job, and has been benefiting from major lifestyle changes. Those lifestyle changes had begun as a holistic approach to managing diagnosed Depression and ended up having the minor side effect of massive (seriously massive) weight loss. Our hero/ine was feeling confident, healthy, and even in love with themselves. Enter, a pickup truck sandwich. Ooooh... plot twist! I was driving a KIA Soul that day. A pedestrian was in the cross walk on a stretch of two lane road without stop signs. A line of traffic had stopped to let them go through. I was sitting behind a pickup truck when another pickup hit me from behind, going about 40 mph. Needless to say, I was the cheese in that sandwich. The KIA was totaled and I was rattled up real good. The next year was not pretty. In the process of medical review from the wreck, it was discovered that I had dege...

Tabletop and live action role-playing games have been a huge part of my life since childhood. At some points in my life, I've played in more games in a week than there are days; going from one game to the next in the same night. Once it became one of my primary hobbies, I had never gone for more than a couple weeks without either a tabletop or live-action game. I wasn't addicted... I could quit at any time. ;) Seriously though, this was a huge source of my social activity. It's where my friends came from. It drove my travel. Conventions drew me to cities that I wouldn't have otherwise gone. It fed my creativity in many ways; writing, drawing, and costuming. It also drove a lot of my spending. My shelves still bend under the weight of the books. My dice collection is ridiculous and the closet in my office has as many LARP costumes in it has cosplays. When I got my promotion at work, I drew the short straw and got a night shift. No more gaming for me. I could have ...