Simpler Living

Faced with a cluttered home, overwork, and financial insecurity, I have decide to simplify my life and drastically cut my expenses. This has a simple monetary component, namely cutting back on my cost of living to get out of debt and eventually reduce work. This also has a philosophical component, namely minimalism and reducing the effects of consumerism on my life. This will also affect my gaming expenditures and purchases, but fear not: Stellagama Publishing will only benefit from this.

I have already found 10 or so unused electronics in my (home) office, as well as over 50 books I have no interest in. I also discovered I have several sci-fi and fantasy literary gems I forgot I bought, and I intend to read them (I'll get to that in a moment). The excess electronics are being donated, as are the books I do not intend to read. I am now in the process of decluttering my wardrobe as well, getting rid of all stained clothes and clothes I do not really intend to wear. Anything stained goes to recycling, anything in good shape gets donated. Extra and unused kitchenware is next.

I have cut $400 (!!!) on monthly average in subscriptions, mostly unused and forgotten, including YouTube Premium (I have FreeTube for ad-free and algorithm-free YouTube), D&D Beyond, Roll20, and many more.

I am also cutting back consumption. Consumerism is a major issue most of us face. I intend to act as follows:

1. Before buying anything, I'll ask myself: do I really need it now (as in, within the next week or month)? If not, I won't buy it.
2. I'll plan my  meals ahead. I'll buy groceries exactly as I need for the next week. I will not fall for sales. My home is not a warehouse.
3. If possible, I won't buy clothes, shoes, electrical appliances, etc. until the old ones need replacement.
4. I won't fall for brands. I'll buy what I need, not what other people will be impressed by. For examle, my communication needs can be easily satisfied by a $200 phone. No need for a $1,000 one.
5. I will try not to buy online. Going to a physical store takes time and effort, and thus drastically reduces impulse purchases. Especially I intend to avoid buying from social media/search engine ads and promoted content!

In regard to video gaming - I noticed my video gaming declined from about 3 hours a day a decade ago to 1 hour every 3 or so days currently. I have enough indie and old games to play for severall lifetimes. Therefore, my next desktop computer will be a $400-$500 machine running Linux (which is much lighter than Windows in terms of system resource usage) and games with lower requirements. I no longer need a $2,000 desktop PC.

Regarding TTRPGs - I have several hundreds of PDFs and dozens of print books. I have no intention to buy further ones or back Kickstarters, other than books and Kickstarters by friends (such as Zozer Games). Once again, I have enough for several lifetimes!

The next part of my plan is cutting screen time. Especially on Shabbat and in evenings. Instead, I'll read books in bed and play solo TTRPGs - with pencil, paper, and physical books (I have enough of those), - at my dining table. Better on the eyes, and I have sadly neglected reading for several years.

As for Stellagama Publishing - I am working full speed ahead on it! I'm cutting back on custom art, and will mostly use stock art (Adobe Stock is about $30 a month and has great stuff) and public-domain art (which is even better). Expect lower prices on upcoming Stellagama books thanks to near-zero art costs!

Got a License!

Got my Ground Car-0 skill!

Up until early 2016, I thought that, due to a medical condition, I was forbidden to drive. Then I found out that this condition *DOES NOT* prohibit driving. So I started learning how to drive.

And now - here is my license!

(temporary paper license - I will get the photo ID plastic version in 1-3 months)

Happy World Lizard Day!

Today is World Lizard Day! I love lizards! A whole gang of wild Mediterranean House Geckos lives on my garden and walls, as well as a couple of Stellagama dragons!

Also, Stellagama Publishing celebrates this day by providing two of its products, These Stars Are Ours! (home to the lizard-like Cicek) and Zeta & Tuko, at a 30% discount until August 16th, 2017!

I am not ashamed anymore.

I have found out that one of the most important things you should work on when coping with mental health issues is on combatting your feeling of shame and guilt. Society tends to stigmatize such issues and cause the suffering person to feel shame.

I have Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) due to very nasty things which happened to me in my childhood. I am no longer ashamed of this condition. I did nothing wrong - wrong things were done to me by others. I am not guilty of anything. I have nothing to feel shame about. I survive, I function almost normally - this is something I should be proud of, given my past.

I no longer feel shame for having PTSD. I don't give a damn about any negative idea other people will have about it.

Some people might unfriend me on Facebook - I don't give a damn. I prefer friends with a capacity for compassion.

Prejudiced people might point and say "look at the madman" - I don't give a damn. They can wallow in their ignorance as long as they please.

Some potential employers might be discouraged to hire me - I don't give a damn. There are other people in the world with human hearts with whom I can work.

I am who I am. I have no shame in that. My suffering and my struggle to live on despite it is nothing to be ashamed of.

Our Mascot Awakens!

Stellagama Publishing's mascot, Mr. Agama, woke up today from his brumation - lizard hibernation - as today was sunny enough for him. So he came to bless us with his lizardly presence!

This is him on the wall of our house in Yavne, Israel. He typically dwells in our attic.

Greetings from the new reptile proprietor!

Nom Nom Nom*

So, you have been wondering, what happened to the fabled Space Cockroach? Well - I ate him! Nothing fills a lizard's belly better than a fat, juicy bug from outer space! Now instead of his hideout, I, Agamemnon the Lizard King - AKA Omer Golan-Joel - hold my reptile throne, and choice basking spot, here. And from my throne room, I will offer you a wealth of new gaming material unheard of in the past of this blog. Because I have excellent news for you all - great things are happening! Things are changing for the better, not just for me, but for my humble contribution to the gaming world. I am getting published, on several channels. Far beyond my old Outer Veil and USE ME work for Spica Publishing and Alternative Armies, respectively.

Stellagama stellio, Rehovot, Israel

First things first - I have finished the full Barbarian Conqueror King manuscript last week and sent it, in all its 70,000-word beauty, to Autarch LLC. This will probably take some significant time to reach a release, as it needs rebalancing, editing, playtesting, proofreading and art, but now I am free to pursue other projects, while doing any further necessary work on BCK as needed - and hopefully within a year or so, it will be ready in its full glory!

Second, I am still translating Stars Without Number into Hebrew. As this is a pro-bono job, it is always lower-priority than anything putting bread on my table, but I'll try to finish this by March so we - the Israeli Society of Role-Players - will be able to publish it by Autumn 2016.

Third - and most importantly - I am now forming my own publishing "company" - Stellagama Games! You can see our logo to the left, drawn by the magnificent Luigi Castellani. My partner in this endeavor is none else than Richard Hazlewood - my co-author of good, old outer Veil. We will use the ease afforded by modern digital distribution to publish various role-playing games online. What will we publish? Initially, smaller supplements and adventures for White Star, Mongoose Traveller - and possibly also Stars Without Number and Swords & Wizardry: White Box. later on, something big is planned. Really big. More on that in the following months...

* I know, I know, this isn't a Stellagama but its Australian relative, the Bearded Dragon (Pogona vitticeps). I simply couldn't find a picture of a Stellagama eating a cockroach...

Mars has liquid, flowing water!

NASA has just discovered liquid water flowing on Mars! Granted, the water flows seasonally, in the (relatively) warm summer, and thanks to the high saline content of the Martian soil, it does not freeze or boil as readily as it would otherwise, but this is still - flowing liquid water on Mars! This is the astronomy discovery of the decade, for the very late, and it will doubtlessly keep a good number of scientists busy for a while. This also means that there are greater chances for native (bacterial) life than anticipated. And it also means that terraformation might be more readily possibly - if still monstrously costly - than believed in the past. In any case, a monumental discovery in our solar system!

Now, in Traveller terms, it would probably be UWP X411000-0 right now, hopefully within a generation or two D411220-8 with a good scientific colony! And in my Visions of Empire setting, by 2260 AD, it would be a major colony undergoing terraformation - B433942-D...

Trying to fight and forge ahead despite setbacks

It ain't easy being me. Between PTSD and depression, both of which originate from very bad things I underwent in my childhood, life is a struggle. I struggle to stay alive; I struggle to do something meaningful with my life despite the black pain which returns and floods me once and again like a dark wave. But I fight. I have no other option. I do far less than I would like to, I have so many great ideas but only a little of them get realized as sometimes my free time is taken over by dark thoughts and darker crying.

But I am trying to fight ahead! Despite all this pain, I am trying to do something with my life. Gaming gives me joy; writing gives me a purpose in life and a reason to live. The other reason I have to live is my spouse, Einat Harari, and my mother, Sarah "Suri" Golan. I live for them, and I live to write. And I am fighting. The struggle is difficult, and other than the support of my spouse and mother, and a few close friends to whom I reveal my inner darkness, and some mild sedatives, there is no outside support. I have to fight on by myself. And I will continue to fight as long I am alive, hopefully for many years.

My next goal is to finally finish the draft for Barbarian Conqueror King. Once BCK is finished, I am going to work on Visions of Empire as a commercial setting for the next edition of Mongoose Traveller (I will start writing it only AFTER BCK is done). All the meanwhile I will continue to run my bi-weekly BCK campaign using D&D5E/ACKS hybrid rules (there might be some conversion notes ready after I finish writing the draft).

I will fight! I will never give up to darkness! I will forge ahead no matter the pain!

Can you get more kickass than this?

Helly Luv, a Kurdish pop-star born in Iran and raised in Finland, filmed this moving music video praising the Kurdish fighters who are kicking ISIS ass. But not only that - she filmed it no more than 3 kilometers from the ISIS lines, in Kurdistan, with the participation of actual Kurdish fighters and civilians. She even took her turn firing a tank cannon on ISIS scumbags. Can you get more kickass than that?

So what is this bugger up to?

Me and Einat

You may have noticed that I post on this blog somewhat less frequently than back in late 2014/early 2015. The reason for this is actually good news - I am finally making a living as a full-time (sorta of) freelance English-Hebrew-English translator, and most of my financial woes are behind me. I am also in a second relationship (after seperating from my ex-fiancee two and a half years ago), so far almost a year and a half with einat, a beautiful, sweet woman who is also working full-time (as a kindergarten teaching assistant). So my own private life is quite full, with less time for gaming and online publications. Generally this is good news - I've found my place in life (as a translator), I am employed, I make a living, I have a beautiful girlfriend who loves me, and I also game every two weeks (right now a hybrid of Barbarian Conqueror King and D&D 5E). However there are three main big projects I am working on in the field of gaming, though a bit at a slower pace than I wished I could have worked on them:

1) Outer Veil improved/second edition (buy the old version here) - my commercial setting for Mongoose Traveller by Spica Publishing. My part of the work is more or less done and the whole thing is undergoing layout and preparation for print. Yes, you read right - this will go to Print-on-Demand (POD)! Also it has new and much improved starmaps and deckplans and a better layout. Stay tuned for the new edition!

2) Barbarian Conqueror King - a sword & sorcery sourcebook and setting for ACKS. I am going with this commercially - this will eventually be an ACKS sourcebook by Autarch LLC. But this is going far slower than I hoped to work on it, due to translation contracts and the usual delays of game writing. But I'll try to get it done as soon as possible and submit Alexander Macris (or Autarch fame) a full draft, hopefully within a month. This would be awesome - dinosaurs! Alien technology! Loinclothed barbarians tearing down decadent civilization! Tentacled monsters! Gladiatorial fights (yes, with full game rules)!

3) Translating Stars Without Number (SWN) into Hebrew (pro-bono) for the Israeli Society of Role-Players (ISRP), of course with a license from Kevin Crawford. This is taking very long and will also need editing, but WILL BE DONE eventually I'll also demo SWN in two games at the ICON festival/convention in Tel-Aviv in late September/early October this year.

Other than that, I am also (very slowly) working my way through my Classic Traveller setting, Visions of Empire...

A visit to the Katzrin Reptile Center (in Israel)

 Yesterday me and my beloved spouse Einat visited the Reptile Center in Katzrin, in the Golan Heights. This is a large pet store which also houses a collection of reptiles and arthropods, especially snakes of various species, as well as Leopard Geckos, Crested Geckos,Madagascar Hissing Roaches, Tarantulas, Green Iguanas, Red Tegus, Blue-Tongued Skinks and several others. The visit was very enjoyable, and, despite her initial fear, Einat came to enjoy holding a snake and quite liked the hand-tame Ball Python housed there...

Wanderers - an excellent sci-fi short film by Erik Wernquist

This short sci-fi film by Erik Wernquist reminds me of the Kim Stanley Robinson's hard-scifi books. It has also brought tears to my eyes as for the short-sighted politicians who invest little in space exploration and much in the endless terrestrial wars (which cost even more  than manned space exploration). Untold riches lie in the heavens; yet we scrabble over the scraps of our own cradle.

Enjoy this film! And support a spacefaring future of science, exploration and interstellar colonization. Bring back our sense of wonder and the Final Frontier!

69th anniverasry of the (WWII) Allied Victory in Europe!

This day, 69 years ago, Nazi Germany unconditionally surrendered to the allied forces, marking the final victory of all nations over the fascist beast. In this day, we should all celebrate the heroism and remember the sacrifice of millions of men and women who stood up, guns in hand, to history's greatest bullies, and put an end to Hitler's reign of terror!

Lost my Day Job to Cutbacks; Going for some Gaming Work

I am sorry to report that I have lost my day-job, in translation and editing, to cutbacks at the company. As of April 13th, 2014, I'll be without a formal day job, until I'll find a new one. HOWEVER, I am now working on a BIG gaming contract for Autarch, namely Barbarian Conqueror King, a Sci-Fantasy/Sword & Sorcery/Sword & Planet supplement and setting for ACKS (Adventurer Conqueror King System).

Dragon Ahoy!

The winter is VERY disappointing this year in Israel, and, apart from a week in December, it feels much more like spring than an actual winter. But there are those who enjoy the sunshine, like this Painted Dragon (Stellagama Stellio), who was basking yesterday and today on the rocks near my mother's house in Kiryat Tivon, Israel.

In Memoriam - Bryan Gibson

Bryan Gibson, a Society of Creative Anachronism craftsman, illustrator and artist, reposible, among other things, for the art in many Traveller books, passed away this week from Double Pneumonia. I had the honour to know Mr. Gibson in 2007-2008, unfortunately online only, when working together on some Traveller projects for Avenger Enterprises. He was a fine man, a good person, an excellent illustrator and a great role-player and Referee.

He will be missed.

Fan-Fingered Geckos!

Who do I meet almost every night when I get off the train at the Rehovot Train Station? None other but the local, wild (though urban-dwelling) Sinai Fan-Fingered Geckos (Ptyodactylus guttatus). there are at least two of them and they like to lurk on the station wall next to the lamps, which attract various delicious insects. So here they are!

A Perosnal Medical Update

After suffering from fever, coughing and shortness of breath for the whole weekend, today I have been diagnosed with chronic sinusitis and given antibiotics. Right now I'm on sick leave at home. I do have some final amendments to add to my thesis but other than that, this means resting until I get better.

However, I do have a more worrying medical problem - digestion issues, with 3-5 stools a day, bad appetite and nausea. The doctor did not come to a diagnosis regarding this but did ask me if I had a history of intestine cancer in my family; she then sent me to a gastroenterologist (the appointment I have is in July due to the shortage in manpower in the Israeli medical system. I did get worried from her 'cancer' questions, though I do understand that they are part of the regular diagnostic process.

Hopefully I'll get better soon.

I Have a New Job!

I am happy to announce that I have been hired to work full time for a small local company, called Designate Technology Initiatives, which specializes in "library" (read: Google Scholar) research and academic-level writing for a plethora of customers, from students, through other businesses, to official bodies. This means I spend 8 hours a day, 4-5 days a week, writing 8-12 pages of high-quality text, usually in the humanities or social sciences. While this is hard work, it is interesting and satisfying.

For this reason, I might be a bit less available for gaming stuff for the following few weeks until I adjust to the new job. Of course, I will still work on Outer Veil stuff and USE ME booklets. Once I'll fully adjust myself, I'll be back to gaming. Oh, and with more money for miniatures!

Writing/Game Design Plans for 2013

Now that one quarter of 2013 has already passed, in retrospect I think that I have wasted much of my free time on having too many thoughts at once, too many projects and too many ideas. Of course, I was also busy with the failing relationship with my ex-fiancée (we are no longer a couple, though she still remains a good friend), as well as my thesis dissertation (about town planning at the Bedouin town of Rahat in southern Israel), but I did lack a good focus to my free-time work, and thus did not accomplish as much hobby stuff as I would have liked to.

So I have decided to put everything in order and focus on the things that are most dear to my heart. This comes in addition to my wargaming terrain plans for April-June 2013.

Main Project:
My main focus will be on working on further titles for my commercial Traveller setting - Outer Veil - published by Spica Publishing. This means finishing writing the first two Ships of the Outer Veil books, the 'Mishka'-class Prospecting Craft and the Phobos-class Jump Fighter; once done, I'll move to further ships down the line, as well as a horror adventure set on a remote colony, and then get back to the Asteroid Mining Rig book.

Secondary Projects:
1) I want to get back to work on my setting for Stars Without Number, the Alkonost Sector, which will be published piecemeal through Infinite Stars. I want to finish the first instalment of Alkonost by the end of June 2013.

2) I want to continue working on my Adventurer Conqueror King System (ACKS) setting, Barbarian Conqueror King, in all its pulpy sword-and-sorcery glory.

3) I want to continue working on my USE ME wargaming titles, namely Twilight of the Empires Basic and Advanced (Colonial and WWI gaming) and Star Smuggler (space-opera skirmish).

That's all. Everything else - ACKS: The Dark Project, space-opera Traveller and a post-apocalyptic variant on Swords & Wizardry, tentatively called Frostburn - which is done in collaboration with Kelly "K-Slacker" Roberge of Tempora Mutantur fame - are on hiatus at least until USE ME TotE and USE ME Star Smuggler, as well as the first instalment of Alkonost, would be ready.