(no subject)

I've been steeping myself in Magic for the last few days, just devouring articles and decklists. I'm a casual player, but I like having good decks (richman1's decks, or evildennis's decks come to mind), so as I'm returning to the game, I'm trying to re-teach myself what makes a good deck -- or perhaps just teach myself; I'm not sure I ever quite got it in my earlier periods of playing the game. Trying to play the game on a tight budget doesn't help, but through trading/selling off older games (bye-bye, Warlord), I can fill out my Magic collection nicely.

It's funny how we keep going back to the classics. First, I played Magic (actually, I played Spellfire first, but I don't count that), then Rage (and I still have a bunch of Rage cards that I need to have hidaman sort), then L5R, then Warlord... and now, I come back full circle. I think the fact that Magic is still going strong after all these years gives me a sense of stability -- other games and other companies have come and gone, but the 800 lb. gorilla is still around.

Magic Online, on the other hand? Playing online would be cool. Having to buy virtual cards, when I can barely afford real ones, is not.

For the want of a nail...

Except this time, nothing was lost. Rather, I figured that I'd recount the strange thread that my life has followed because of choices made and events experienced. At the time, I didn't realize it, but looking back, there's a clear chain of events.

In 2nd grade, I took an IQ test. That test put me in the gifted program at school.
Because of that gifted program, I met my friend Matt in junior high, who got me collecting comics in high school.
Because I started collecting comics, I was frequenting the local comic store, where this new "Magic" game had just come out. I decided to play it (with rendertarget, who was also in the gifted program).
Because I was playing Magic when I went to college, I met evildennis, who promptly schooled me and my group of friends.

(On a side tangent, because I met evildennis and played cards with him, I met hidaman, and through him I met judge and a whole host of other people.)

Because I knew evildennis, I decided to go along with him to the vampire LARP that started up on campus.
Because I was LARPing, I met my future wife, tesstrosa.

(Another side tangent - through LARPing, I also met deramani, raenshadoe, and psychousagi.)

Because I was engaged to marry (and couldn't find a job in Warrensburg), I ended up bringing tesstrosa home with me over the summer to live with my parents, and then decided to commute 40 miles to campus.
Because I was commuting so much (and working a job in Lee's Summit, too), I burned out and lost my scholarship.
Because I lost my scholarship, I stopped going to college.
Because I stopped going to college, I started looking for a job in web development.

And from there, I got hired, got a home, got two corgis, and life is where it is now.

So, IQ test, comics, Magic, LARP, engagement, college dropout, web developer.

And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.