Is anyone reading this? Am I just speaking into the void, writing words that will never be read?

Well, except by my parents, but parents barely count towards readership anyway. *evil grin*

No one? Maybe a voice or two?

Ah good, I can enjoy some peace and quiet.

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Has it really been more than six years since I took this photo? Doesn’t seem like it…

Ah well, it’s probably just the standard time sense adjusting that comes as you age. I think the current top theory is that you keep comparing time spans to the total number of years you’ve lived and well, the longer you live, the smaller the percentage a specific time span is. Which is why a summer is forever and a half when you’re eight but a blink-and-you-miss-it when you’re eighty.

Suppose I should try to get used to it. Or do more unique things. That always helps. The other main theory for this time thing is that your memory trims out near-duplicate memories in order to save space, exactly the way a zip file compresses data. Adult life is full of routines, and often one week is very similar to the last. The more unusual things you do, the tougher it is to compress down the data. When you’re younger, of course, far more experiences are new and interesting to you, so it makes sense it looms larger in your memory. Mind you, not being able to compress memories can lead to you being overwhelmed, but still, go out and do unusual things!

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m staying in and doing what I always do.

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I ran across an interesting link recently. Someone playing a Pathfinder game decided to draw his party and kept it up for a while, documenting the way things changed. It starts from simple descriptions of one dimensional characters and grows into, well, far far more. I really recommend giving it a read.  It’s a great view into the glory that is roleplaying.

That and I swear I’ve played that Barbarian before. Female, odd race, odd quirks, and a bedrock for the party, both in staying strong in the face of changes and in doing the most of the damage in fights. Sure, I choose other races and quirks, but that basic formula? Totally played that.

I’ve noticed that I have a type of character I like to play in just about any game. Strong fighter types, but still a team player, often picking support and tank abilities as well. I like getting in there and surviving all the hits so I can smash away happily right in the enemy’s face. I’m the front line, but I’m also frequently the healer. I tend towards a bit quirky but stable when it counts. Good at keeping track of what’s going on around them, poor at anything dealing with social situations. I also don’t have any pride tied up in doing the most damage, but frequently end up being solidly consistent at that job.

And really, that’s who I am in reality. Strong personality, takes joy in being different, but stable. I’ll happily help out anyone around me as they need, but refuse to let them take advantage to me. Now if only real life was a lot more about bashing enemies and a lot less about talking to people who look down on you…  I’m totally statted wrong for the standard encounters in this real life game…

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One of the best things about waterfalls is how varied they are. You have to have water, and it has to fall, and after that, anything goes.

They can be big, they can be small. They can be short, they can be tall. They form in just about any area, even if only during a storm. Some are hidden in trees, others surrounded by nothing by rocks. They can even go underground and never be found again.

The one in the photo’s rather laid back. It’s got a lot of short falls, and a long gentle slope. There’s the sound of falling water, but it’s less of a pounding and more of a symphony. People go swimming and fishing in the area quite happily. It’s a peaceful falls, don’t you think?

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I’m tired of mountains, time for waterfalls!

This one’s so lovely, they named the town after it.

Though that’s actually fairly common. Towns had a strong tendency to pop up around waterfalls, back in the days when water power and travel were the way things were done. If you took a boat on the river, you had to either stop at the waterfall and go around it, or take things very slow and go over it. This created a natural rest spot, which is just the sort of thing that grows into a town. Meanwhile, that same waterfall is a perfect setup for waterwheels and turbines and all the lovely ways to put together water and gravity and make use of it.  And well, if the waterfall is that important, you’re going to keep referring to it when you talk about the area and oh look you have a name.

…Feel like I’ve mentioned that before. Oh well!

Long waterfalls like this one are especially interesting. Basic rule of water is that it finds the lowest spot and flows down it. So why are there so many low spots here?

Well, if you look closely, you can see that the waterfall is at an angle to the river. Just a quirk of how the rock lies, but an important one. The water all the way on the left encounters the edge first, and falls. But the water left of that, what can it do? It can’t go right, there’s water in the way, perhaps forward a little- and it falls. Keep that up across the whole width of the river and you end up with a waterfall far wider than it is tall.

Though, really, should it count as one waterfall? There’s lots of small falls there all working together… Eh, that’s just semantics. Five waterfalls for the price of one!

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