(How we doing, pandemic INTJs?) Some updates on stuff!

First, damn that’s a cool image. Wow. Space is neat.

Speaking of which…

Space Roleplaying

I’ve been reading HardNova 2 and Shatterzone recently. Both fun and unique in different ways.

Space roleplaying has been a lot of fun. As I piece together various approaches toward campaigns, narratives, characters, and world-building, I think some of the personal reasons include:

Building from Scratch: I’m at a very unknown / open-ended stage of my life & career right now. And space is just like that. Some things in my life are more-known, like “what I need to do today,” for example. But in the big picture I think my subconscious is going, “HOLY GEEZ, you can do ANYTHING out here in space!” It’s kind of a creativity cue. So a lot of my hobby work takes inspiration from this idea that it’s a big universe out there…kid. It’s fun, too.

Epic Sense of Scale: There’s this idea that I’m building at a scale suited for the second half of my life. Or last two-thirds, to be generous. New frameworks have to have a big-picture aspect. They involve technology that is flexible enough to accommodate a variety of little changes that can quickly impact the big picture.

Anyway, it’s kinda fun to think about.

In case you’ve never heard of HardNova or Shatterzone, I just want to mention that I’m playing the underdog-interest card here. The introverted-values-oriented (Fi) idea that one can sometimes derive an extra bit of creative energy by going with the approach that’s less-appreciated. I can also understand that people might just go with the Star Trek Adventures or the Aliens RPG or another popular & well-known system, and I think that’s cool too. But this time I’m going with the underdogs because I can feel that weirdly irrational pull toward the “option nobody’s heard of” and my guess is that it’ll pay off at a subjective / personal level.

Other Roleplaying

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before, but I have my own G.I. Joe / Action Force -style fictional group. It has a really cartoony feel and has been funny to work on. You can come up with all kinds of cool characters and weapons and villains and none of it has to make any kind of logical sense unless you decide it’s time to think about that.

The private-public interface for this kind of work is really a neat puzzle to think about, as well. How do I show this to the world? What benefit does that bring me? How would it help others to experience it? I don’t know all the answers, but there are so many possibilities that are downright fascinating.

Every day my journaling template randomly rolls up and inserts a new role-playing scenario, and I have enjoyed ad-libbing based on those as well.

Music

I picked up a few vintage keyboards to play with. Man, making music is fun, even if I’m not terribly good at it.

Recently I have either a Yamaha PSS-480 or a Yamaha PSS-170 on my desk at work. What a fun new development this has been. Activities:

• Sound-doodling in general. Picking a random sound on the keyboard and developing its mood.
• I’ll listen to random Youtube songs and try to figure out the chord progression.
• A couple days ago I found a nice bell sound and recorded it as a ringtone for my phone.
• Playing with synthesis: Creating new sounds, either randomly or based on a spec.

(BTW. A Yamaha PSS-480 makes a great little electronica-landscape for roleplaying with cyberpunk paper miniatures.)

INTJs

People I’ve been watching while thinking, “hmmm…yes…you light my INTJ buttons”:

• Jon Cryer, actor
• Shailene Woodley, actress (yes! Always looking for new-to-me INTJs of varied genders)
• Martin Pistorius (check out this TED talk)
• Mark ‘I disagree with the premise of that question’ Zuckerberg
• Charles Cornell, Youtube’s own jazz pianist

Summary

I wish I had time to write more, but for now that’ll have to be enough. Hope you’re all well & healthy! —Marc

Filed in: People /74/ | Interests /111/