Mouthsounds

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I'm finally playing Dungeons & Dragons.

My interest in playing started several years ago, out of nowhere. Like many things I become interested in, I just stumbled onto it. While I knew it existed, it wasn't in my wheelhouse as a kid. Then again, I was raised by parents who lived through the "Satanic Panic" so it's not surprising I was never exposed to it or any other role-playing game.

What turned me onto it recently was podcasts. In search of audio dramas and fun story-telling, I came across The Adventure Zone. At the time it was deep into the story, but I took the time and binge-listened until I was caught up. In this show, three comedian brothers and their charming dad play D&D together. It's a wonderfully funny podcast and it was their newness to the game, the improvisation, and camaraderie that that made me say to myself, "I'd like to try that!" Sadly, any time I brought it up to friends, I got a lot of, "Eh, that's not really my thing" looks and responses. I was, however, not in a comfortable position to run a game myself, so I'm sure that didn't help matters.

That led me to start learning more about how to really play, but it became overwhelming so fast thanks to my wonderful un-diagnosed anxiety. My brain scrambled at the thought of having to adapt to decisions people were making. I walked away, having spent a good amount of extra money on books, systems, and dice. (Oh my gravy, the dice!)

A year ago I was invited to play by the owner of a game store I frequented before COVID was a thing. He mentioned that they met weekly and were just starting up new sessions. Interested, I joined and showed up to my first session ready to play - my character had been rolled, dice had been tucked away, and my notebook and pencil were ready for note-taking.

Upon entering the store I met two dungeon masters, neither of whom were expecting me, but were happy to have me join their respective groups. Unfortunately, neither seemed keen on bringing new players into their campaigns. One had an elaborate home-brew adventure ready to go and the other was starting Descent Into Avernus, but had no idea what kinds of players he needed... because the book hadn't been released yet.

The first "session" was a bust that involved me rolling a brand new character and meeting potential co-players. Also, I had my first, um, sense of what Comic-Con would be like, if you catch my meaning.

I didn't let that stop me, though! I returned the following week to meet up with the group and see what hellish adventure my new DM would have for me!

An hour later, we had our group together after waiting on three new players to roll new characters. While I understand that this may happen, it just felt like everything was all over the place. I was ready to play, so I was more impatient than normal. Finally, the adventure was starting!

As we began our Descent Into Avernus, things seemed to be going OK. Some players were well-versed in the rules and had played campaigns before. Some, like myself, were new and hesitant to really get in and do anything. Then there were those who either thought they were the DM or couldn't care about anything going on, including when it was their turn to do something.

Yes! One gentleman decided it would be better to sort his Magic: The Gathering collection while playing and had no clue what was happening!

Once we had slogged our way through things, the first real session was over. I was upset. This was nothing like I expected, but I didn't want to just call it off after one time. I wanted better and, who knew, maybe Magic Boy wouldn't be there next time? Lucky for me, I had a work trip planned, so I wouldn't be able to make it. I decided I'd think about it.

Yeah... I didn't go back. As someone who has anxiety, being with a bunch of new people made me very u...

This is an anxiety and depression update, if you can't tell by the title.

No real show notes or exposition for this one. I'm just talking about house-buying, anxiety, and depression here. I do touch on the fact that I have no idea where to start when it comes to seeing a doctor for it, so feel free to leave suggestions.

From COVID-19 to Black Lives Matter to everything else 2020 has thrown our way here in the United States (and abroad), I'm learning that education can make a lot of difference in how we approach everything.

Here are some thoughts I've had and, yes, they're just as rambly as ever. What other books on anti-racism and Black History would you suggest I read?

This post is a duplicate and is for testing purposes only. This does not use the Apple Podcasts Optimization area within PowerPress.

This is heading one (H2)

This is paragraph one. This post is used for research purposes for Blubrry (hyperlink). You can find more podcasting solutions at https://blubrry.com (in-line hyperlink). You can also email me at [email protected] (email link).

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**THIS IS THE SUMMARY AREA*** Feel free to skip this episode, as it is work-related and most likely very boring. Sorry in advance.

This post is a duplicate and is for testing purposes only. This does not use the Apple Podcasts Optimization area within PowerPress. The post was created using the Gutenberg editor.

This is heading one (H2)

This is paragraph one. This post is used for research purposes for Blubrry (hyperlink). You can find more podcasting solutions at https://blubrry.com (in-line hyperlink). You can also email me at [email protected] (email link).

This is heading two. (H3)

This is paragraph two. This sentence is bold. This sentence is italic. This sentence is strike-through. This sentence is underlined.

This is heading three. (H4)

This is paragraph three, a quote.Dave Clements

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* This is un-ordered list item one.* This is un-ordered list item two.* This un-ordered item has been indented.

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This podcast is built on the idea of me being transparent about my life and the things I'm thinking about at any given time, so why not talk a little about my vasectomy, why I'm fat, and how my brain is dysfunctional?

I mentioned a series of episodes by YouTube creators, Rhett & Link, on which they discuss their personal journeys through religion. You can find those episodes linked below. I'll be sharing my own version of this in an upcoming episode.

* Our Lost Years* Our Years As Missionaries* Rhett's Spiritual Deconstruction* Link's Spiritual Deconstruction* Our Experiences After the Lost Years Series

**THIS IS THE SUMMARY AREA***

Feel free to skip this episode, as it is work-related and most likely very boring. Sorry in advance.

Wendie gifted me a PlayStation 4 for Christmas and I'm glad she did. Since then I've spent a fair amount of time playing various games and falling in love with storytelling all over again. Have you had this happen while playing video games or are you more interested in skipping those scenes in favor of simply beating the game?

That's what I'm talking about in this episode of the newly-renamed... Slightly Obnoxious, Strongly Sarcastic! Yeah, it was time to move away from Dave Lives Here.

Thanks for listening.