Books Are Made Out of Paper

And the paper I'm talking about is money. Hence it's only reasonable to expect that it similarly costs money to buy books.

And contrary to popular belief, I am not made out of money (especially considering I'm unemployed, which is making the call center more lucrative with each passing day). I doubt anyone is. And as an advocate of reading (and buying!) books, that leaves me with a dilemma. Obviously, I want to buy as much books as I want, so that I can read (and I share the same fear with Vin that one day, I'll grow so bored because there's nothing good on TV and all my friends are "busy" that all I can count on is to read a good book, but I've exhausted the supply at home, so currently, we hoard books so that that day may never come) a lot.

But my eagerness to puchase books surpasses my actual capability to do so. So what happens is (which is the logic of having Free Comic Book Day) that in the event that I do buy books, I end up buying books which I already like (i.e. my favorite genre). Of course the problem with this is that I stop expanding my horizons and I also give the impression that I've stopped expanding my interests. I'm actually the type of person that'll accept free stuff (i.e. books you want to loan) and I'll eventually get to reading it (if it's actually good... honestly, if it's a bad book, why bother loaning it? If you're actually giving it away, I see the logic in doing so, but you're probably better off burning its ugly remnants) once I have the time (and the motivation).

Realistic Wishes for the Year (in no particular order)

1) That I (not necessarily alone) could come out with a comic or a program featuring awareness of RPGs and the like (Wizards of the Coast is giving away a free comic on Free Comic Book Day). Because honestly, I have these RPG comic scripts, but something always keeps on happening before the artist can submit to me the illustrations.

2) Someone would hold a D&D Miniatures Tournament here in the Philippines, because I feel that I can win this one.

3) That a serious and responsible group interested in SF&F would appear. Because I want to meet people who share the same interests as me. And talk to people who've actually read Lord of the Rings, for example (or The Iliad for that matter... I'm already resigning the fact that many Filipinos will have a false knowledge of the Trojan War, and even Vin is not totatlly immune to its effects). And more importantly, people who are interested in propagating the love for this genre.

4) I want to play more D&D games, with a wide spectrum of GMs. And of course, GM a game or two. In the immediate vicinity.

5) Have (and hopefully participate) in an anime convention that brings a new dimension to the cons we're having. Because quite frankly, the conventions we're having is stagnating: more of the old and less of the new. So far, the only innovative convention that I've heard is the upcoming yaoi con (which I'm sadly not attending), and that's not a public event nor does it have mainstream appeal.

6) Visit a local library that actually has lots of books, and not limited to either fiction or "research material" (although more research materials are always good).