Over the past year or so i've been taking more note of elements of my own personality and looking at various different "traditional" methods of gauging personality. Alot of the things ive lookedat amazingly seem somewhere near consistent. Born in a cusp on verge of leo and virgo for star signs i have considered them both and can say for sure that I am deffintly a virgo, I fit alot of the traits for that and few of the traits for lio. A good friend of mine born on the 23rd of august intrestingly is deffintly someone that i would consider i a leo. Where i am conservative he is adventurous where i am analytical he is.....for want of a better word headstrong. 

The next area i looked at was the chinese calendar. Depending on where you look  ( i liked this site http://www.holymtn.com/astrology/year.htm) I am a passive earth Snake.  "Snakes are wise, philosophical, calm, and understanding. Subtle, secretive, elusive and enigmatic, there is an element of the mysterious that surrounds the Snake personality .Snake is extremely determined and strives for what he desires regardless of circumstances". I find myself fitting into some of these catagories. I very rarely openly express anger, and i mean th emotion rather than just words. I try to be understanding but i cant judge that myself however i do normally try to take the time to look at an argument from both sides and access why an opponent to my arguement or standpoint might think as they do. As always there are elements within that i wouldnt apply to myself, the earth element puts me as industrious, in myn own way im industrious but since playing computer games isnt productive i suppose it rules that out. I put this down to the fact i would never find a perfect fit but simply alot of similarities. 

My latest point of interest i have found is a somewhat outdated way of looking at personalities now. I personally can apply one to myself so believe it to not be so outdated however it differes from the others in that it seems less predetermined: i was born in 1989 so that made me a passive earth snake, i was born in august so that makes me a virgo. This is something called the four temperaments: Sanguine, Choleric, Melancholic and Phlegmatic. Yes i did wiki this one (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Temperaments#Sanguine). I find myself fitting bestinto the phlegmatic, bar the winter thing but i dont entirely know how that applies. I find myself to fit into this one best as i am curious observant relaxed and consistent. Rational is something that people think of you in my opinion as you are almost aslways rational to yourself. 

This leads me to wonder. Have i turned out the way i am because of my upbringing and personal experiances or does all this starsigns and everything else have a real impact in affecting your personality. I of course could have missed things about myself and thus others might see me as a leo or a as sanguine i dont know however i would urge others to look at themselves and look at the star signs, chinese calendar and tempraments and see if it fits. you never know it might even practically help you in life........

As you all probably know this has been my first year at lancaster. As most of you probably know this as also been my first year of tabletop roleplaying. Thanks to some fantastic GM's (Spike and Alex) and some good one shots ive been in (Pauls freshers Cyberpunk and Pete's new system try out nyesterday) I have been inspired to try and run my own game next term.

The game I am planning to run is a gang warefare using the Dark heresy system and thus warhammer 40k universe. I am planning to make the story player based, so that their actions will dictate the plot. I am plannign the game for a Tuesday at Lurps and will be working on the details of plot and other general background stuff over summer. What I am looking for is general advice from anybody about GMing, anybody who has been a GM or players who have experianced both good and bad GM's. Plot devices, how to create a suitable atmosphere, what to do with troublesome players as well as general good practices of GM's. Thanks to Spike and Alex ive observered two different syles of how to be a good GM, but I am hoping the more advice the better. Also advice from a GM's perspective should be pretty helpful. 

The other thing I am looking for is for someone whos willing to read through my plot ideas and other stuff and offer advice on a different way to do things, looking for areas where players could easily mess it up so that i can make a contingency of some sort. It'll be something ill be working on over summer so ill try and send to anyone who is willing to help then. 

Finally as a last note is just to say thanks to Lurps as a society. The games I have played have been very enjoyable and I have had alot of fun. The exec has been easily approachable and ive never had a problem that i didnt manage to sort and the members have been welcoming. It's been a good first year and i look forward to the fun of next year. Thanks guys!

Chris

Im back and for i was greated by the brilliant lancaster weather as expected. Regardless of that i now find myself with a Friday with little to do and free time. If anyone reading this has spare super glue it would be greatly appreciated if i could borrow it i have much assembling to do of my easter 40k aquistions.....

On a downside my package didnt arrive today so im going to have to wait till i go home for some reason/excuse to see my £110 acquisition. What would i spend that kind of money on you all ask. Well it just so happens I noticed the now enforced ban on samurai swords and it just so happens i found the one i wanted on ebay. Ladies and gentlemen i presnt to you the sephiroth sword, all mine, as soon as i get home to see it when it finally arrives.....

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=310036406144&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT&ih=021

The real question is.......how do i sneak that past the porters into my room? Would it be a breach of the rules?

Chris