Crossposted with permission from peaseblossom03

(original wording not mine)

When President Bush ordered troops to Iraq, he probably never imagined that he would be ultimately be responsible for what very well could be the very first D&D convention/game day ever held in a war zone. Ziggurat Con, being held June 9 from 1200 to 2100 hours at Camp Adder/Tallil Airbase, is open to all allied military personnel and civilian contractors in Iraq.

KBR and MWR (the army’s Morale Welfare & Recreation Department) have graciously allowed service members to use part of the Community Activity Center to hold the Game Day. The Ping Pong room will be set up for RPGs (Role-Playing Games, not to be confused with the rocket propelled grenades which share the same acronym), and the DVD Movie room will be playing Anime Movies all day in support of the event.

The largest problem with running a Con in Iraq, of course, is that there are no local stores or game publishers, and few game books on the post. Even dice are in short supply, with many soldiers breaking the unwritten taboo held by many gamers and sharing dice. Thankfully, many game publishers have also lent their support, and have agreed to supply game products to help the Con along. aethereal FORGE, Sovereign Press, Final Redoubt Press, Goodman Games, Paizo Publishing and Steve Jackson Games are among those that have thrown in their support for the convention. But Amberson indicated that the soldiers could definitely use more.

"This convention is currently in drastic need of prizes and giveaways for the troops," he said. "Everything donated will go directly to the troops, or to MWR to use as loaner books for the soldiers."

For more information, contact SPC David Amberson at the following address: david.amberson (at) iraq.centcom.mil

Donations can also be sent to SPC Amberson directly at the following address:

SPC David Amberson
A Co 86th Sig Bn
APO, AE 09331

They’re planning to run the following games (and will be happy to get additional games):
Babylon 5 RPG, Cyberpunk 2020, D&D, D&D RPGA, GURPS, Historic Miniatures Battles, Magic Tournament, MechWarrior Miniatures, Rifts, Shadowrun, Starship Troopers, White Wolf System-Vampire, White Wolf System-Werewolf, XCrawl

See her original post here for some links for places to buy stuff to donate, if you would like.

Could I be getting good at this budget thing?

I've just finished doing my weekly bills. And I noticed two VERY odd things:

1.) I have money left over. As in, I put away MORE than I had originally budgeted, paid another bill off...and there's still money in my checking account. Seriously.

2.) I'm paying some of JUNE's bills now. As in, I've got May's all paid, and I'm sending in June's payments.

How does this happen? When did I turn in to a financially responsible adult?

On the upside, it's REALLY nice to know that argus7hills and I can go to the movies tonight and not worry about it. My goal is to have 6 months' worth of bill payments stashed in various bank accounts so if something happens, we are okay for a bit. We're up to about 1 month now.

And it's SO nice to see that credit score rise!

Happy Birthday, Wally!

And, as a birthday present, the Sox win 8-0!

Metrics for VB - Friday

Um, I forgot to post these yesterday.

Word Goal for the day: 750 - made 663

Starting line: Something soft brushed against my skin; frowning, I moved aside yet another hat box (Great-Aunt Sophie had been obsessed with hats, and shoes, and purses – the monstrosity was most likely hers) and found a true treasure.

Ending line: She continued to speculate all the way down the stairs, the story growing by leaps and bounds.

Darling: Under the handkerchief lay more treasures. Two locks of hair, one dark and one light, intertwined into an intricate braid, flowed over a set of jeweled hair pins. These were peacock feathers again, but of ruby, sapphire and emerald fire, not threads, and the long silver pins that they sat upon were tarnished and worn. I wondered which of my elegant ancestors had pinned up their wealth of hair with the pins. As I picked up the braid, something else caught the light above us and flashed fire.

Inspiration du jour: Les Miserables soundtrack (the London cast)

***

Now to add to these.