**Giggles!**

If you have been keeping up with me for any length of time, you know that I have a strong passion for RPing. Like many people my age (or even older!) you grew up knowing about Dungeons and Dragons and you heard all of the jokes. My friends, who knew my folks pretty well, knew that it was a level of escapism that you could get a taste of just by reading, but it was the toss of the dice where things came alive. Oh sure, you had the interaction of the people at the table, the banter, the whit, the panache, and even the costumes ... we tried it a few times with little success, though I thought I did pretty good. Now, when the cartoon came on back in September of 1983, things changed. I got to watch kids about my age travel to a far out land where magic and monsters co-exisited, where great deeds balanced the darkest of deeds, friendship was tested, and loyalty was the coin of the realm.

I was hooked!

Surprisingly enough, we never did our version of the cartoon, though from time to time, there were private discussions of who was who and what was really going on. It was no secret that there was something to my own characters and, while asked, I would tell my friends that such matters were up to them. If that's what they thought, sure ... why not? My mother got concerned a year or two later when another Mom mentioned it in passing, saying that she thought it was cute. But, Pop was unconvinced. He knew from talking with me from time to time, those times out and about, getting pizza from Domino's, talking about topics like growing up, becoming a good person, even death and dying. I want to say this is where I got the first thought that something terrible had happened to Pop, but it was quickly pushed aside by his soft smile and a bite of pizza where he got a thick bit of cheese onto the rim of his flight glasses, making quite the mess. Showing this side of himself allowed the both of us to see that what people think they see is not often what it truly is.

What was surprising was about six or seven years later, I made my mark on stage and even a bit onto film with some SCAD movies done by a few friends and classmates. While doing the costumes was fun, tossing the dice to help out your friends, perhaps even saving the day with that critical success that turns the tide ... oh yeah! There's nothing like it. But, when it's time to step down and back from the stage or the tabletop ... well, hopefully it's done with class.

Still, even after all these years ... gosh! It's been about forty years for me ... the summer of this year, it will have been an even forty for me. Wow! Right?

Anyways (for those of you who are still reading, right?) here is the latest piece of work from the mind of my good friend and most excellent artist, DA Artist 14-bis, who really pulled out all of the stops and did this one for me. The background has just enough details in there to establish the mood and without taking away from the allure and appeal of the characters. Here you have Sheila the Thief and Diana the Acrobat hanging out at the Inn of the Dancing Owlbear and knocking back a few drinks with the Mighty PlastiCat and Ricochet KaBoom the Impossible Girl. Talk about fun times!

Thank you, my friend! This is going to help make this weekend so awesome!