Me parrot died, so now I all I have this is here manatee. Yarr.

So yes, this is me with a stuffed manatee. You'd think that manatees don't have much to do with vintage games -- and I would have agreed with you -- but it turns out that a remake of a classic computer game features a rather large manatee swallowing our hero's ship. Giant man-eating manatee -- those crazy game designers...

Yesterday's game was yet another board game: (The) Fury of Dracula. The parenthesis are there because the original name of the game as designed by Stephen Hand and published by Games Workshop was The Fury of Dracula, and when Fantasy Flight republished it, they renamed it to Fury of Dracula. It's a bit like Scotland Yard with extra cruft on top, as one player acts as Dracula and sneaks around the map, and the other players try to find him. I haven't played the original, but the combat in the new version is confusing and not a lot of fun, so it no longer makes it way onto our table any more.

Let The Right One In would make for an interesting game, on the other hand, but probably more as an indy roleplaying game.

More of a summertime working outside hat than a winter one.

That's right it's snowing. Enough so that I took my snowmobile out for a ride. Granted I just stayed on the road, it was fun nonetheless.

YOU too can win fabulous prizes and fight breast cancer!

So a few days ago I announced a contest wherein you can win fabulous D&D prizes (a custom designed monster-group or adventure professionally made and illustrated just for you) from Matt Goetz and his wife Roxxy Goetz.

Well Roxxy emailed me yesterday and we've just upped the ante. She's throwing in character portraits on top of everything else. All you have to do is sponsor me and make it so that I know that you sponsored me (email thetomeshow AT gmail DOT com, twitter me @Squach, Google+ me, call me at 919-BIZ-TOME...just let me know you sponsored me) and you are entered to win.

Here are the prizes to be awarded:

If I get to...

...$250 Matt will design a new monster just for you, illustrated by Roxxy,

...$300 Roxxy will throw in an additional THREE character portraits (so that means now four people could win),

...$400 and Roxxy will bump it up to FOUR portraits,

...$500 and Roxxy bumps it again to FIVE character portraits AND Matt bumps it up from a custom monster to a whole custom adventure for you (still illustrated by Roxxy).

So you see that? Sponsor me, save lives, fight breast cancer, support me personally, AND get custom professionally designed gaming stuff. What more could you ask for?

If we make this happen I'll shatter my sponsorships from last year and show everyone that I'm a force to be reckoned with around here.

Now, for the rest of you, the Manly Points of the day:

Chris - 70

Beard A Non - 110 (+4 for caging the beast)

Drew - 145

Wesley - 206

Bob - 204

Duane - 120

Brian - 197

Cmaaarr - 211

Fred - 89

Me - 110

Jeffrey - 202 (+2 for cute kid, -1 for stealing it from someone else)

Kris - 193 (+2 for conversation, -5 for not photo)

Michael - 41

Pete - 192

Brian E - 115

A Dam - 177 (+1 because cash is more manly than PayPal)

Jim - 205

Wannes - 148

Chooch - 180

Jason - 137

Out soon, watch out.

My new job didn't work out very well. I've been ... detained ... for a while. My lady snuck a picture today for this post.

I keep hearing thi$ tiny voice $aying $omething about $pace pre$$ure differential between the vortex and earth.

The beard is getting to the point where it's becoming more noticeable to my for it's starter beard qualities rather than its lack-of-beard ones. Rather than being cold faced, I'm scratchy faced, with constant poking at my upper lip. But I know the rest of the BeMos went through this already, and it's nothing new, so I soldier on.

Haven't had any sponsors in a few days now. Hopefully that changes!

The orange room. This is where my PS3 lives.

Had a lovely evening out to dinner with my fellow beardians and The Debbie. Spent a lot of the day playing video games and lazing about the house. No complaints.

Beardrrito!

Today's Beard is brought to you buy delicious Los Burritos Numero Uno... that is all.

I've been spreading the word donation around quite a bit!

I got a cash donation last night from Wendy, who is one of my physical therapists. She did say(jokingly) not to use it for my friday night enjoyment. I of course did not. If there are people out there who would rather a cash donation, I will make sure that it gets forwarded to beards4boobs for you.

Thank you Wendy.

Yay!

It was (virtual) race day again. Despite taking a hefty performance penalty (designed to balance the field) from last week's win, I won again. Huzzah.

I had to drive through the field this time due to some lobby mismanagement, despite having qualified first again. It's all good, though. Makes the victory that much sweeter.

Wave the checkered flag, hoist a giant bottle of champagne.

"Cheeese" (I tried to say potato but, I was swiftly corrected)

Alright I know people look at other kids photos and think things like "Oh great, I'm going to have to do that pretend voice where I think their kid is the cutest kid evar." Well, don't worry. I would never ask you to do that fake voice or the over the top "OH HOW CUUUUTE!" for any kid of mine.

However, the adorable person in this picture that isn't me, isn't my kid. It's my niece. And I will assume you will not need to pretend to see the cuteness therein. Because right? Stupid cute! And she likes uncle Jeffrey's beard. And she told me that if you don't help me with some donations, she will cry. And how dare you make my cute niece cry? Shame on you. What kind of person does that? I'll bet you even guilt people into doing things for you. Or even worse, use your own kid to guilt people into doing things for you. That's just twisted. So prove me wrong, and sponsor my beard, and know that you money is going to help save boobs.

"Certainly, travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living."

- Miriam Beard

Today, there was travel. I am tired.

But the face-mane yet grows. Unperturbed. Constant. For it's goal is to save boobs, and it is focused. Unstoppable.

Now, I sleep. But the beard never rests.

Descriptor of the day: thin face-fro

I'm not feeling photogenic just now, nor pithy, so you'll have to settle for this exchange between my five-year-old son, Kyle, and myself, which took place earlier this evening.

ME: What is the word that means more than one tooth?

KYLE: Many.

ME: Okay, listen. The word for more than one mouse is mice, right?

KYLE: Right.

ME: So, you lost one tooth and now you have nineteen...

KYLE: ...left.

Gah! Where's did the time go?

Woah, I totally got so wrapped up in playing Plants vs. Zombies for like the 12th time through tonight that I almost forgot to post, which would have messed up my record of daily posting every single day for four years running. But here it is, my post of the day...and now, the Manly Points:

Chris - 70

Beard A Non - 96

Drew - 145 (-1 for making me hungry for an awesome burger when I'm in the middle of a weight loss challenge)

Wesley - 206 (+2 for being suckered into my little point-giving trick, the goal was actually to encourage community building mostly by forcing me to take the time to read everyone's posts, which I didn't do last year...that and to punish Chris for calling me a whiner on day one...I love ya Chris)

Bob - 194 (+3 for correctly stating he got his hairs cut. I don't know if he pluralized it because both he and Jeffrey got cuts, or if he correctly identified that he has more than one hair that was cut...I will assume the second for his own benefit)

Duane - 120

Brian - 197 (+2 for finding yet another place to take a picture that continues his theme)

Cmaaarr - 201 (+2 for the LoR reference, +1 for the Circe Du Sol...however you spell it...mask)

Fred - 89

Me - 110

Jeffrey - 191

Kris - 186

Michael - 41

Pete - 192 (+2 because I almost thought I'd miss the silly hat theme from last year and the silly beard theme hasn't been as consistent, but darned if you don't pull in some good ones...Magic beard...ha!)

Brian E - 115 (+1 for dramatic, up-angled back lit pic)

A Dam - 156 (+2 for deep thinking)

Jim - 205 (+3 for a run of games right in my wheelhouse)

Wannes - 148 (+0 for blowfishing)

Chooch - 180 (+2 for shopping a ThinkGeek, I have a friend to works there, I should find some way to get them involved in the month...that'd be a great partner)

Jason - 127 (+1 for a post that looks like it's probably funny, but in my almost-didn't-have-time-to-post-tonight post I haven't read yet)

Today I started arranging a get-together for people who are in the gaming industry, either professionally or semi-professionally, who live in the Philadelphia area. I've gotten some good responses so far, which has me excited. So, if you are within driving distance of Philly and want to come down/up/over/around on the 3rd of December, shoot me an email at engard at gmail dot com. Should be a good time.

Where's Buffy when you need her?

I've been chasing this damnable vampire for days now. Through all of Europe and across the Mediterranean. And now, after cornering him in Budapest, he's hypnotized me into shaving my neck and preparing myself for him. Hopefully Lord Godalming will show up soon.

Day Seventeen's game is Wiz-War, designed by Tom Jolly and first published by Jolly Games in 1985. The concept is that you are wizards battling in a dungeon, and your goal is to either steal two treasures from other wizards and place them in your area, or be the last wizard alive. Chessex had promised to release a new edition of Wiz-War for years now, but finally Jolly canceled the contract with Chessex and it was announced recently that a new edition is coming out soon from Fantasy Flight Games. Hopefully they didn't muck with it too much, as they are apt to do.

Incidentally, Wiz-War was an inspiration for another classic game, for which Pete has already provided a photo.

What a kook! I don't even think there i$ a $karo in New Hamp$hire.

I don't know about other parts of the country, but around here we have more that one "Psychic Studio". I believe to be "Psychic Studio" you have to have a residential building that suddenly found itself in a commercially zoned area but rather than sell and get out, you hang a sign outside saying your a "Psychic Studio". These places stay while all the stores in the strip malls on either side come and go, and while their parking lots aren't always full, they are seldom empty.

A friend of mine once had the great idea of picking up a gift certificate to one of these places for the Yankee Swap at work. So we went to lunch, and stopped by one of the local studios, which appeared to be either a converted garage, or a converted bomb shelter in front of what was obviously just someones house, stuck between two overflowing strip malls. It was dark, and musty, and we stood there for a while before the only other person in the room (who we had assumed to be a customer) asked if his wife was expecting us.

I mean, he just put it out there: did the psychic know we were coming. There were just too many options for how to reply. I almost had to leave on the spot to avoid laughing in his face. Luckily my friend managed to keep a straight face, and showed amazing restraint (really, this guy has a come back for everything, even things that you really don't think have a good comeback) and just asked about gift certificates.

The man perked up and asked what type of reading we were interested in. My friend asked what was cheapest, explaining it was for a swap at work. I forget what the cheapest option was, but it was well beyond the swap limit, and it wouldn't be right to give some one only part of their future, so we left.

And I thought that was the end of it, but today, when I left the house for the first time in over a week (I'm feeling quite a bit better, by the way), a woman I did not know approached me in Walgreen's. She said she'd seen me at her studio a few years ago, and she knew I didn't believe. At first I had no idea what she was on about. "You thought it was funny that I wasn't expecting you."

"Oh, are you..."

She nodded, smiled, and said I'd be having a small problem with some visitors from out of town, or something. Then she laughed and walked away. I shook my head, tried to remember what I was doing in Walgreen's and headed home. No problems so far.

The thing I hate most about winter weather is static electricity. I seem to be a magnet for the stuff. I get shocked taking off a jacket, or getting out of my car seemingly year round, but in the colder months it's constantly.

I bought this little key fob off of ThinkGeek a few years ago for around $10 and it's the best investment I've ever made. Just touch the little rubber tip to something metal and you are static-free. Or something like that.. sciencey science.

Hey, this is post 700!

Looking back through previous years, I see that I've never successfully posted every day for all 30 days.

In 2008, I posted regularly for 7 whole days, until an internet outage kept me from posting for several days in a row.

In 2009, I made it a whole 12 days. I posted a picture on day 13, but it was of my Xbox Live avatar. Then I didn't post on day 14 at all.

In 2010, my efforts were torpedoed in day 3 by an illness.

In 2011, I am here on day 18, going strong. I didn't know why, until I read the most recent of Jeff's Posts and realized I know exactly why.

Points.

That's very sly of you, Jeff. Give us some meaningless competition and we post every day. Or at least I do.

Word Count: 24060, 3896 today

Yay! Best daily word count of the year! And I'm '' <-- this close to finishing the first of the two stories I was hoping to write this year!

I don't think I'll finish the 2nd one by November 30. I expect it to be a bit longer than the current one. However, I do intend to write, uninterrupted, until I reach 50k words total. Then, I will write with reasonable interruptions (read: Time out to play Saints Row and Minecraft) until it's done.

"You're so stolid. You weren't like that before the beard." -- Q

I am not saying that if you don't contribute I am going to fire my rocket at your house. I can't, however, promise that I won't use said rocket to launch my orbital laser platform and then aim it at your house if you don't sponsor me. Hmm, might need a bigger laser and a bigger rocket. Come on. It is for the boobies! Even a guy with a semi-sentient evil parasitic beard like me knows it is a good cause!

I throw my beard up in the air sometimes...

The wife has officially decided that she likes the beard. Oh well.

Last night we went to "Burgers 2 Beer" on Wilson Mills again. Man, that place knows how to make a burger. We split one (yeah, they're big) that was made with mac n' cheese on it.

This weekend we're going out twice again because so damn many people are in from out of town for the holiday week that we're trying to see them all. I'm glad I'm not on a diet, because I'd be screwed in the next few days.