[Fedoras of Salvation] - White Knights ITT

[zemanjaski]

No one thing per se, just too many things. I really need to start saying no to things basically; so the problem lays with me 1. not being able to say no to helping people 2. not being able to resist going out 3. not giving myself enough time to recover, given I am training 4-5 days a week, then partying 2-3 days a week ~ not a very sustainable mix.

You know how it is as an adult ~ you have way more opportunity and resources than you ever did as a child, but now you have to make real choices and real sacrifices ~ I have not yet achieved the maturity to do that.

[LP, of the Fires]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Totes know what your talking about.

The point of my hustling my local gamestores scrubs in cash tourneys is not for me to walk down the street to the bar and drink my winnings, but I can't resist. Being an adult is hard. There's a 13 year old kid at our store who's actually fairly good, and one day, me and 3 other guys where explaining to him how much more awesome being young is then you think. Granted being an adult is better because you have more freedom, but freedom has very real costs.

[zemanjaski]

^ I think what I miss most about being young was just how care-free I was, and how there were really no consequences to anything you did (as long as it wasn't totally awful). Im only 25, but now let's be realistic:
- there are career consequences for a lot of things I could do (not would do, but let's be realistic; I am the sort of person who would otherwise have even less restraint)
- I am not realistically going to be making more friends. This is a weird realization that I had around my 25th only a month ago ~ I have five good male friends, five good female friends and a wolf. That's it. I know a lot more people than that, but these are the only people in my life that I care about seeing and want to keep seeing. Now, in a way, that is good because most people don't have that many good friends; but at the same time, if things go awry in the group somehow, that's my entire support and social network in one package.
There is value in diversifying obviously, and while I do have a lot of friends outside that group; it isn't the same.
- I am physically getting older. My body recovers much less slowly now than it did at 18, which isn't just age, I also don't take good enough care of it.

I am not saying that I am unhappy or anything; just that things are SO MUCH MORE REAL now and I am still developing and understanding and appreciation of what that all means. It is certainly interesting, I will give it that.

[Christen]

What I learned with being an adult is you'll want to keep your closest friends. There is always opportunity to make more, but you won't be able to replace the ones you grew up to adulthood with. When things go wrong inside the group, we all sit down and talk about it. At the end of the day, nothing goes unsolved without a good talk. As a side-effect, we rarely do the sit-down sessions since we grew closer at every trial we faced.

Also, I can't find that image I found that sums up age groups very well.
- Young: Less Money, More Time, More Energy
- Adult: More Money, Less Time, More Energy
- Old: More Money, More Time, Less Energy

[Sasky]

As a 28 year old, one piece of advice I can give is: find the time to exercise! Obviously not an issue for wrestlers like zeman, but for everyone who doesn't, find the discipline to do it. It makes you feel much younger, more awake, and you fall sick less. For me, since my work and relationship is taking up so much time, I have made it a point to wake up at 5am on mondays, wednesdays, and fridays to go for a half an hour to forty minute run. The results are very noticeable.

Also, doing a job you love is a fantasy few people get to make true. I think learning to love your job instead is the secret to happiness. I was frustrated at being a teacher in my first years at the job, but I've learnt to turn that frustration and tiredness into satisfaction at having made a difference.

Also, don't give up things you enjoy, be it magic, hanging out with friends, booze etc. It's easy to get distracted by your work and your partner,
and your kid for some, but doing the things you love keeps you sane and looking forward to each day. I've seen friends being unable to turn up for cube drafts because of work or girlfriend despite numerous attempts to change the days we draft, and it makes me sad. They clearly enjoy playing, but they are letting obligations take over their lives. (The obvious exception is sex, for that overrules everything).

[photodyer]

Profound realizations, gentlemen...well spoken, all of you.

James, I have nothing to offer here but hindsight. I sincerely wish I had had anywhere near the insight and introspection at your age that you display in posts like the one above. I ran headlong into whatever I wanted with blinders to maintain the tunnel vision and a strong push of denial to keep such realities at bay. Looking back now, I wish I would have thought more and "dove in" less.

Your observation about friends really resonates with me right now. My ex spent a lot of energy in keeping us isolated--that's the borderline way. Now that I've "returned from Oz" and am again grounded in reality, it's depressing to realize that I have no long time close friends. I moved over 1000 miles after high school, so it was basically a total reset. About the time that I was starting to cement some decent friendships again, I got mixed up with my
ex and receded from the world. Now, most of the acquaintances in my life are people that are grounded in long-time adult friendships and the like, while I'm by default on the periphery. I always took meeting other people for granted, but the opportunities today are all but nonexistent.

Let's face it...there's not a group of guys like this clan around every corner waiting to be found...

[zemanjaski]

Yeah ~ my parents always told me that the friends I made at school would be my friends for life and...yup. You certainly just don't have the same opportunities as you get older.

[Sasky]

I have found that open-minded colleagues of your age group are worth cultivating as adult-friends.

[photodyer]

Yeah ~ my parents always told me that the friends I made at school would be my friends for life and...yup. You certainly just don't have the same opportunities as you get older.

Too true. I have one friend from high school--a woman who might have been even more but for one circumstance or another--who is unlike anyone else in my life. We can be out of contact for years at a time, but then catch up in the blink of an eye because we understand each other so well. I truly wish I had the base of friends in my life that I would have had had I not uprooted after high school and then hooked up into my ex in college. There's no substitute for the shared experience of "growing up".

Man; deep reflections on being 47...

[zemanjaski]

Yeah, I am sure work colleagues are good, but where I am; I am the young lawyer who is stuck with all the older managers and department heads, so the social atmosphere there is pretty unappealing to me. Next job maybe.

[photodyer]

Yeah, I am sure work colleagues are good, but where I am; I am the young lawyer who is stuck with all the older managers and department heads, so the social atmosphere there is pretty unappealing to me. Next job maybe.

I've done that from both ends. When I first started at my job, I was the young guy starting a family among others with kids in high school and college; now I'm the one with teenagers who's surrounded by people with toddlers.

[Platypus]

About friends...you will always find new friends. If you have great friends, do try to hold on to them. But if you part ways, don't worry too much, you will find new ones. My own situation is basically this: I had some good friends at school as a child, but we moved away and I basically lost them. Even though we went to the same high school, we never spent time together since we live so far apart. The friends I made in high school...I more or less lost contact with them when I started studing at university. I've met some of them last summer during a high school reunion and it was fun, but in the end those 20 years apart was felt. Or the thing is, you think you still know each other but since you haven't done anything together in 20 years it feels a bit awkward. So at university I made lots of new friends, but one by one they started families and/or moved away. It was really the moving away part that was the hardest, people
getting kids and all that wasn't so bad. It felt hard both for me and my wife, because many of those friends were friends of our both. People we've studied with and then got to know through each other. Some were my gaming friends that I found in the mid-90s while playing Magic at the local store and we later started playing D&D with as well. When one of them moved to Canada for a few years, it felt really hard, because I just knew it would be the end of our Magic/D&D/boardgaming group. Well, it kinda was, but we still play boardgames and Magic with one of them whenever possible. The D&D playing is impossible though right now. Anyway, at one point it just felt like everybody was moving on and "abandoning ship", except us. But then suddenly out of the blue we found out that we had several aqcuaintances that played boardgames, who would've known? And suddenly we got some more friends, jsut like that.

Sorry for the ramble...my point is, friends come and go. If you can keep some
throughout life, more power to you. But if you lose some, don't get too depressed about it there, will be others.

[Khaospawn]

Even though I've never met any of you guys in person, I consider you all my friends and brothers. Despite the distance, you guys have helped me become a better Magic player, and even more important, a better person, which is more than I can say for some of the people in my "real" life. I am proud to be part of such a great and diverse group of people. Alone we are all great people, but together I truly believe we're something more (no homo).

Nobody judges anybody in this Clan for whatever path one takes in life. In fact, we all support each other in the choices we make. There's nothing but camaraderie, friendship, and dick jokes in this Clan - this is what makes the FoS so awesome.

Just wanted to put my two cents in. Nobody will ever be without friends as long as this Clan exists.

[Valdarith]

Well the prerelease went absolutely terrible for me. 1-3 with my win being a bye. I had reserved Rakdos/Gruul but I was 10 minutes late because I had to watch the boys until mommy got home. She was taking care of some things for her parents while her mother is in the hospital (more on that later today) and got back later than she anticipated. I showed up at the LGS to find that my packs had been given away, and only one was left - Dimir/Golgari. I just said "Fine, give it to me and I'll find a way to win anyway." Boy was that the biggest overestimation of my life. My pool was TERRIBLE. Light on removal, only one playable bomb that I had to splash red for (Hydra), no synergy whatsoever...it was bad. And of course I have bad luck like others here and pull Maze's End in my land slot and that stupid Selesnya chick that makes your tokens
immune to damage.

It was my first time playing sealed and I had someone that was very good at it take a look at my deck between rounds. He pulled out a few cards he thought were suboptimal but said overall "Your pool is shitty. It happens."

What was most infuriating is that everyone was a huge lucksack against me. I resolve my Hydra, they resolve Lavina. I'm representing lethal next turn, they topdeck the BW drain life and cast for exactsies (literally the only card she could draw to beat me on the spot). I get a fast start out the gate, they play Crypt Ghast and cast BW drain life to kill me instantly.

Probably the most infuriating Magic experience I've ever had.

[zemanjaski]

http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showpost ... count=1371

Please descend.

[Sasky]

Even though I've never met any of you guys in person, I consider you all my friends and brothers. Despite the distance, you guys have helped me become a better Magic player, and even more important, a better person, which is more than I can say for some of the people in my "real" life. I am proud to be part of such a great and diverse group of people. Alone we are all great people, but together I truly believe we're something more (no homo).

Nobody judges anybody in this Clan for whatever path one takes in life. In fact, we all support each other in the choices we make. There's nothing but camaraderie, friendship, and dick jokes in this Clan - this is what makes the FoS so awesome.

Just wanted to put my two cents in. Nobody will ever be without
friends as long as this Clan exists.

Khaos, words escape me in describing how beautiful this post is. No homo.

Well the prerelease went absolutely terrible for me. 1-3 with my win being a bye. I had reserved Rakdos/Gruul but I was 10 minutes late because I had to watch the boys until mommy got home. She was taking care of some things for her parents while her mother is in the hospital (more on that later today) and got back later than she anticipated. I showed up at the LGS to find that my packs had been given away, and only one was left - Dimir/Golgari. I just said "Fine, give it to me and I'll find a way to win anyway." Boy was that the biggest overestimation of my life. My pool was TERRIBLE. Light on removal, only one playable bomb that I had to splash red for (Hydra), no synergy whatsoever...it was bad. And of course I have bad luck like others here
and pull Maze's End in my land slot and that stupid Selesnya chick that makes your tokens immune to damage.

It was my first time playing sealed and I had someone that was very good at it take a look at my deck between rounds. He pulled out a few cards he thought were suboptimal but said overall "Your pool is shitty. It happens."

What was most infuriating is that everyone was a huge lucksack against me. I resolve my Hydra, they resolve Lavina. I'm representing lethal next turn, they topdeck the BW drain life and cast for exactsies (literally the only card she could draw to beat me on the spot). I get a fast start out the gate, they play Crypt Ghast and cast BW drain life to kill me instantly.

Probably the most infuriating Magic experience I've ever had.

Hey, at least you have an exciting story to tell. The poor bloke who went 2-2 with average games throughout is probably crying from being all alone and having no one to listen to how he excitingly top-decked a vanilla
dude to cast onto a balanced board. Cheer up

[redthirst]

Well, I didn't come around much this weekend and the place exploded... well done everyone! I have a few announcements, but first and most importantly, Happy Birthday photo!

In other news, there have been changes to clan membership and policy.

Khaos and ham - in their infinite wisdom - have declared Fate and Alex ready for Tier 2 status. The decision was based on their continued contributions to the clan since the move. Hopefully, now that we're settled, we will be doing monthly promotions.

In addition, we've decided that dpaine and yarpus should be retired from the council due to their inactivity - they will be given Tier 3 status and their seats will be replaced by Windstrider and photodyer. I know there was no vote, but is there anyone that really thinks they're not the right choices?

I'm thinking RA should be removed from the friend's list considering his recent bs... any objections?

As far as policy
changes go, from now on, new members will not be given access to the restricted forums - that will be reserved for full members. We did this to separate the two tiers and because there's no point in having the forum be restricted if anyone who says they want to join can gain access. This is not a retroactive step, so if you already have access, you'll keep it.

[TubeHunter]

http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showpost ... count=1371

Please descend.

I was going to respond, but I decided to not waste my time.

[TubeHunter]

S_A: suspended.

[redthirst]

S_A: suspended.

Remember, whenever Sasky closes a door, he opens a window.

[zemanjaski]

Can someone ironically follow up by quoting him having a go at me for being suspended? Even if costs you a red; it would make my day

[Alex]

S_A: suspended.

Your suspension says it all!



Oh the irony!

[windstrider]

Is there something in the air causing this sudden seriousness for everyone? Life is kinda overwhelming to me at the moment as well. My ex might be getting out early; my daughter is struggling in school; my own semester sucks, and I couldn't care less about it; and it's our three year anniversary on Wednesday. That last one is a good thing, but it's still another pressure.

My head space is occupied territory right now. By that I mean that my dysthymia is cycling into a depressive episode. It's not a good place to be in for me. I'm feeling like a golf ball in a wind tunnel. There were times yesterday that I couldn't think or make a decision about anything because I just didn't care enough about it to even make the attempt. I haven't had an episode like this in years, and it blindsided me to an alarming degree.

This feels like a convergence point. All the stresses are merging into one space to be sorted out in a
massive burst to clear away the logjam preventing us from moving forward. These seem to take place in 6-7 year intervals for me. In 2007, my father died after a two-year fight with cancer; my second wife and I were divorcing; I was in a custody fight for my daughter; and my job was being threatened. But some good things came out of that year as well. These are the forest fires that clear away the old so that new growth can take place.

I can say that this group has helped to keep me grounded. And that, my friends, is a blessing.

[redthirst]

Can someone ironically follow up by quoting him having a go at me for being suspended? Even if costs you a red; it would make my day

Your wish is my command Glorious Leader Z.

[windstrider]

The level of ignorance in that guy is astounding. I predict awesomely horrible things for him if he ever has a job that requires regular communication above the level of "Would you like fries with that?"

Moron.

[redthirst]

Be sure to hit me with my card, Sasky - I'd rather it come from you than one of the others.

[windstrider]

Ah, nothing like schadenfreude in the morning.

[photodyer]

Good morning, good night, my friends. I regrettably have to spend my birthday trudging back to work after sleeping today, but them's the breaks.

This is what I came home to...have I said lately that I have awesome kids? My daughter made her first quilt for me as a surprise and left it on my bed...I'm still teary.

@Khaos - Well-spoken, my friend...I share your sentiments.

@RT - Thanks for the well-wishes, good sir.

@Windstrider - I'm with you, man. I've been hitting the funk here over "the stupid stuff" here lately as well, and I know there's no quick fix. But brother, you are not alone; lmk if we can do anything to ease things up for you.

I'll say it again out here...you guys are just awesome, and I am proud and honored to call you my friends and brothers. Be well and I'll catch up with y'all tonight.

[ExarionUniverse1]

Yeah, I am sure work colleagues are good, but where I am; I am the young lawyer who is stuck with all the older managers and department heads, so the social atmosphere there is pretty unappealing to me. Next job maybe.

I've done that from both ends. When I first started at my job, I was the young guy starting a family among others with kids in high school and college; now I'm the one with teenagers who's surrounded by people with toddlers.

Happy Birthday photodyer

[rcwraspy]

Happy Birthday, Photo!!

Congratulations to those receiving promotions to Tier 2 or the Council - well done!

I posted in that thread re: S_A. It's not on the Gruul topic so I'm sure I'll receive an infraction and I'm fine with it. The dude's even ignorant of the definition of the word ignorant - there's really no hope for him.

I had an interesting weekend. I only got to 1 pre-release, which was yesterday. I chose Gruul and my secret guild was Rakdos. I ended up pulling good Boros cards so made a 4-color without Blue. Pulling Tajic and 3 of those Viashino 4/4 Haste on T3 (then 2/2 after that) was too good to pass up. Gruul War Chant won me the game every time I put it down, especially when I had Clan Defiance or other removal as backup. Overall I went 3-2, narrowly missing top 4. There were only 20 of us and we had a few drops.

It was an odd weekend for
me though. Saturday was full of dance. My wife is in a modern ballet company and she also teaches ballet at various places, including a college in Southern MA. There was an arts festival at Harvard this past weekend and her company performed on Saturday. So I was there for HOURS for that and then we immediately drove an hour to where she teaches to watch her students perform in some end of the semester performances she had choreographed. It was all good, but I never had a love of dance before meeting her and it can get rather overwhelming. Next weekend is even more of the same. I'm going to see the same college performance 3 times in a 2 weekend span.

On a good note, I received an acceptance letter to Suffolk University's Law School. I'm 32 and have been working for a while, but applied for a part-time joint degree that would see me graduate in 5 years with both a JD and an MBA. Now we just have to make sure it works out financially.

[Alex]

Yeah, I am sure work colleagues are good, but where I am; I am the young lawyer who is stuck with all the older managers and department heads, so the social atmosphere there is pretty unappealing to me. Next job maybe.

I've done that from both ends. When I first started at my job, I was the young guy starting a family among others with kids in high school and college; now I'm the one with teenagers who's surrounded by
people with toddlers.

Happy Birthday photodyer

Get the fuck out.

[windstrider]

On a good note, I received an acceptance letter to Suffolk University's Law School. I'm 32 and have been working for a while, but applied for a part-time joint degree that would see me graduate in 5 years with both a JD and an MBA. Now we just have to make sure it works out financially.

Congratulations!

[redthirst]

On a good note, I received an acceptance letter to Suffolk University's Law School. I'm 32 and have been working for a while, but applied for a part-time joint degree that would see me graduate in 5 years with both a JD and an MBA. Now we just have to make sure it works out financially.

Congratulations!

Yeah, that's pretty hot. Well done!

[redthirst]

Oh, I almost forgot about your predicament, kaze, but I know exactly what you mean.

I also hate it when some annoying 13 year old won't get up out of my kool-aid. I'm like "No thanks, grandma, I don't swing like that. Take your old ass elsewhere."

amirite?

[rcwraspy]

I like Cedric Phillips's Jund Aggro list a lot. What do people think about Zhur-Taa Druid in Borderland Ranger's slot? Can't fetch for colors but is still a human for Aristocrat, still helps accelerate, and pings a bit. Plus comes down a turn earlier, and off BTE mana too. Borderland certainly has the better body for attack/block scenarios. Thoughts?

EDIT: Or maybe instead of Arbor Elf? Probably a worse decision because then you have no T1 play and can't drop a 3 on T2, but it nets you +4 humans in the deck.

[TubeHunter]

Just want to play with Sire of Insanity so bad..... Except I can't find a list that I actually want him in.

[Valdarith]

Hey, at least you have an exciting story to tell. The poor bloke who went 2-2 with average games throughout is probably crying from being all alone and having no one to listen to how he excitingly top-decked a vanilla dude to cast onto a balanced board. Cheer up

Yeah, at least I pulled a Deathrite Shaman in my Golgari pack. I figured I'd go ahead and eBay off that Hydra too while it's still high.

photo - happy birthday!

rcwraspy - congrats!

TubeHunter - Sire seems good as a sideboard card for matchups vs Sphinx's Revalation.dec

[Self Medicated]

Happy birthday Jerry!!!

[redthirst]

TubeHunter, a Jund Midrange Aggro shell would probably work. Play dorks/Farseek/Gyre Sage/ZTD and aim to get it out around turn 4.

[Platypus]

I follow Wil Wheaton on various social sites, because he's a cool guy. This morning he posted this:

http://wilwheaton.net/2013/04/so-this-o ... gary-expo/

Should we be jealous?