Bangkok’s Grand Palace: Wow to the WowWow!

By Lillie
Catch more of her adventures at http://lmarshallworld.blogspot.com

There’s a certain point when the thick heat and pollution of Bangkok make your head swim so hard and your clothes stick to you so wetly, that all you want is to collapse onto a shady doorstep and yield.

This is what I was doing as Adie fruitlessly pulled my arm to stand back up. “I don’t wanna go in!” I whined, leaning back onto the pavement. “We’ve been walking around the city for six hours and I’m tiiiired! Plus, 350 Baht ($10) is too much to pay to go in there. We can see the palace just fine from out here.”

Adie put his hands on his hips. “We did NOT come all the way out to the Grand Palace– the PREMIER attraction of Bangkok– to give up now!” he declared. “You WILL come in there with me, if I have to carry you in or pay your entrance. GET UP!”

At last I did, and I am so very, very thankful to Adie. THE GRAND PALACE. IS. AWESOME.

Spanning across one hundred buildings, the pure gold cone of the palace you can see from the highway is just the very beginning of the wonders inside the gates. I have never before seen a palace that is so fitting for ROYALTY.

Everywhere, gold, tiny mirrors, jewel-toned stones, and metallic paint glistens. Each building is a different gorgeous twist. Giant statues with individual (and often hilarious) expressions guard the doorways and hold up the columns. Elated, dejected, furious, bored– they all look fantastic.

What most struck us was how amazingly well the entire Grand Palace is maintained. Though it was built in 1782, every single day workers toil to re-polish, re-paint, and re-build another small section… meaning that not a single tiny jewel becomes dulled. Look at the photo of the two painters refurbishing the murals of Buddha’s life! There were about a hundred of these caretakers at work yesterday.

Now a word about the Emerald Buddha. This vibrant green, 26-inch tall figure is one of the holiest sites in Thailand, and was discovered in 1434. It sits atop a twenty-foot high, radiant gold throne, and is surrounded by worshipers from around the world. Signs read: “Proper dress required” and “No Shoes” and “Do NOT point your feet at the Buddha.” You are also not allowed to snap photos inside, so all I have to show you is the pic of a ghostly green glow in the center of a dark room that I snagged from outside. See it?

One of Adie and my favorite details is that, according to the official palace guidebook, “The sacred image is clad with one of three seasonal costumes (summer, rainy season, and winter). The costumes are changed three times a year in a ceremony presided over by His Majesty the King.” How absolutely lovely to envision these holy men delicately swapping the miniature fashions!

I truly loved the Grand Palace of Bangkok. So what’s the moral of the story? There are a few. 1) Don’t be a lazy bum when you’ve come all the way to the gates of a famous attraction. Go inside! 2) Being a cheapskate is sometimes dumb. 3) When something is titled “The Most Famous Attraction in All of __”, there usually is good reason. 4) Friends are important. 5) Gulp plenty of water, snap those pics, and drink in the absolute beauty of the most gorgeous buildings you’ve seen in your life!

Cirque Royal (Brussels, BE)

Weekend (Thursday – Monday) in Brussels in March 2010!

Concert tickets for March 19th already secured! Accommodation secured!

Looking at photos of the building/venue of Cirque Royal it’s a historic beauty that alone! Then experience some more of beautiful places and environments in Brussels with surroundings! Meeting lots of friends! Sharing concert adventure together! All of this is really something to look forward to, specially those days the blues get you ;  )

Thank you, Milow for bringing us together =D

In our Halloween post, we mentioned that we had a record player and have been trying to find a place that sells a big variety of LPs that we could buy, we found that place.  We have been right next to this place several times and have heard of this place many more, in fact it is somewhat famous for its music selection, well we finally visited and all the raving reviews were right, we enjoyed our visit immensely.  This place is Amoeba Music.

So we had visited my home and decided we didn’t want to go back to Irvine yet, so Tammy came up with the genius idea of going to Amoeba.  We parked and found our way to the store, we entered and were greeted by a store that was loaded with all types of music and was decorated with every type of music poster!  There was even a handout with a map of the store that told you where everything was.  First, we kind of made a lap of the store and found our way to the Beatle’s section.  We have become very interested and excited about the Beatles lately due to the class we are taking in school, made us realize how amazing their music is.  Anyway, after collecting what seemed to be all of their records (it really wasn’t), I moved on to look at more records, and Tammy went on to appease her curious mind.  She of course ended up in the DVD section.

I found a couple more albums and soon enough she appeared next to me again with “The Beatle’s Anthology,” an 8 disc anthology that has practically everything one would want to know about the Beatles, very interesting.  From there we wandered around (more like me chasing after Tammy) the store some more and browsed a bit, there was so much to look at that it isn’t possible to see/find everything.  Anyway, it was close to closing time so we decided to divide what we had and head to the counter.  We left there with: Beatles For Sale LP, Rubber Soul LP, Revolver LP, Magical Mystery Tour LP, The Beatles Anthology, Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds LP, and Rush’s Moving Pictures LP.  As you can see, we may have splurged a little bit.  : )

So yes, we would definitely say that Amoeba Music is worth it, was quite the experience and got some amazing music from it. And a Happy Belated Thanksgiving to y’all!



Earlier this week, Luke and I decided to take a little road trip down to Invercargill, one of the great things about living in such a beautiful country is the joy of the road trip. When we lived in Sydney a road trip would be an entirely different experience, first of all we would spend the first hour struggling through freeways and fighting the traffic before we even got to see a single beautiful thing, these days we are already inundated with beauty before we leave the driveway.

Invercargill itself was kind of boring, aside from being one of the southern-most cities in the world it was really just like any other country town. We had coffee at (the worlds most southern) Starbucks – after unsuccessfully attempting to get soy lattes in a few other cafes and failing miserably – and then spent about 2 hours trying to find a cafe that would serve us vegan food, and then I dragged Luke to the cinema to watch New Moon (for the 2nd time). After the movie ended I tried to get him to watch it with me again before we drove home but he remained adamant that watching New Moon 3 times in the space of a week was NOT part of our marriage contract, and threatened to divorce me if I made him sit through it again, so I reluctantly got into the car and we drove home.

Luckily I am a big believer in that ‘the journey is as important as the destination’ proverb because I really had a great time even though Invercargill itself wasn’t anything to write home about. I’m a little disappointed that I didn’t get more photos especially of the stranger animals that we saw. In one and a half hours from our house we saw the following animals:

Sheep
Cows
Deer
Elk
Moose
Turkey
Goats
Eagles
Hedgehogs
Possums
An Ostrich!
and various other birds

Pretty amazing huh?? Anyway here are some photos of the day:

So let me start off by: I am kind of sad I left my cardigan back at school.

But other than that: Today I woke up around 8:20 and washed up and stuff. I made some hot chocolate and around 9, me and my sister were set to go on our trek to pick up all the kids. From pretty much 9 til 10, we’re just around the town picking up everyone and getting gas (let’s not talk about the incident at the gas station please). I had originally told my roommate, Vivian we were going to paint at 9 and poor Vivian I think she started pretty early. After dropping Irene and Shereen off at Ontario Mills, we had to stop by at Home Depot for some more rollers because I mean, how are you gonna have 5 kids working and just one roller to share? We finally arrived at my room around 11, and I guess it was alright that we were a little late. I mean those extra sets of hands really got the painting done faster. I had to keep running errands though, you know not enough painter’s tape, kids are hungry, need some bristle brushes to get the little gaps and what not. Crystal said I was slacking but you know, I just had stuff to do since no one else there had a car nor could they drive, well Vivian could, but not really since she doesn’t have her license. After the kids were worn out, we went for some Chipotle (mmyum) and then picked up Irene and Shereen around 4 and left for home.  We attempted at some hill pictures on the way home, but they didn’t turn out very well. =( Anyway. So now I’m home and I have paint all over me and I have yet to take a shower, teehee.

Sincerely,
Sarena.

P.S. Here are some of the pictures from painting today, well pretty much pictures from Crystal and Rosa messing around with paint.

I have made the trip from Philadelphia to North Carolina and other points south at least 100 times. 95-85-Rt 1 ad nauseam. So, when I had the chance to make the trip by myself a few days ago, I took the route I’ve always wanted to take. 95-895-81-Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park.

It’s been about 12 years since my last trip to Shenandoah, but anytime I’ve been on 81, I have secretly and sometimes no so secretly begged and pleaded with the driver to take the detour through the park.

I left my house at 4:30am, and exactly 4 hours later I passed into the park. Between the rain, the fog, and the majority of motorists trying to get to their destinations through more conventional means, I had the drive with all of its scenic overlooks mostly to myself.

Well, at least the scenic overlooks that weren’t smothered in fog. Between 2100 and 3600 ft it was hard to see at some points, making the trees look creepier and lending to an overall feeling of driving directly into the twilight zone.

But then, it was time for the hike. I have hiked the AT in Shenandoah previously, but it was so long ago that I couldn’t tell you where. For this one, I chose Hawksbill Mountain, the highest point in the park at an elevation of 4050 ft. Starting off at the Hawksbill parking area, I headed south on the AT for about a mile before picking up a connector trail to take me to the top of mountain, overall elevation gain for about 600 ft. over 2 miles.

There is something so comforting about being on the AT. I see those 2″x6″ white blazes on the tree and no matter what town, county, or state I’m in, I always feel like I’m home.

An easy 3 miler, no challenging terrain, I took about 2 hours to do the loop from the AT to the Summit and back down the steep Lower Hawksbill Trail. Once I got within 100 yards of the summit, walking along the ridge of the mountain, I stopped and watched the clouds and steam come off the Blue Ridge Mountains. I could’ve stayed up there all day.

I meant to type up a short pre-departure note about my adventure to the north, but suddenly Monday morning was here, and I was eagar to leave. It was a decently eventful four days, starting with a night in Noosa and ending with seeing the Sunrise over the colored sands on Rainbow Beach. There was also the largest sand dun I’ve ever seen, river kayaking in Noosa, getting so sunburned I couldn’t sit properly, and Bine and I making total fools of ourselves trying and failing (miserably) at diving into the giant waves. We were fairly embarrassing, but it was so much fun and relaxing.

Now I wait to catch my 11:50 bus to Brisbane, so I can catch my 2:30 bus to Byron Bay and start my mostly solo adventures. I’m still nervous and excited, but I’ve resigned myself to the fact that even if i don’t go as far as I plan, I’m sure I’ll enjoy the ride.

I’ll be back in New York the 15th around noon, and then back to Ohio for Christmas.

But for now, I’m off.

I’m trying to figure out how I’m going to spend my time this weekend. Aside from time that’s set aside to do some post & pre-birthday celebrations with Joe Coffee, Goalie Joe, Bart, Lisa & Maggie, there’s a number of things that I’m yearning to do.

I’d love to spend some quality time watching A Bit of Fry and Laurie, which Joe Ferrett and Scrabble Joe gave me for my birthday. Then there’s the Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer that’s waiting patiently to be used to make something (bread, fudge, cake, cookies). On top of these exciting notions, I also have 70 cds of Miles Davis music for my listening pleasure.

Sure there’s laundry, groceries, Wii Fit exercise, coffee drinking, along with other sundry chores and errands to be accomplished. But how can I make the best use of without staying up all night? Why can’t weekends be longer?

Myself, Ryan, Lauren and Vawn went to a craft evening at The Deaf Cat cafe, where we had coffee and hot chocolate. We then to join a load of lovely friends at the pub. Its not often that there are so many people that I like to spend time with in one room! Here are a few photos:

L-R: Steve and Ryan, Lauren, Vawn

L-R: Vawn, Lauren, Brodie, Andy, Steve, Ryan

L-R: Me, Vawn, Brodie, Lauren

L-R: Ryan and me and Vawn, Lauren and Brodie, Brodie and Andy

L-R: Steve and Ryan being happy

We then walked home, and waited half an hour for food in the local kebab shop, which was horrible food, and which made me get out of bed to forcibly remove the food via regurgitation. Not pleasant… never again.

Today I had a session of Wet, on the Xbox, and I am over half way through now. I am also planning the restart of my driving lessons, which should be next week if possible! I cant actually wait to get my license… one less thing to worry about!

Jenn xxx

(enjoying my lovely pint of Fruili!)

P.S Check out the new post on Magnolia Fontaine by Vawn, featuring the lovely jewelry that Lauren has created, along with the work she helps create, working for Stephen Webster. These photos include the lovely baby hamsters that they adopted from me I am so happy they have been included! So cute:

Förra lördagen hängde jag o O på Faluns museum för att kolla in lite konst. Hans kompis Morran ställde ut. Finfina prylar.
Och så när vi var på väg ut ramlade jag in på en utställning med en av mina favoriter – Bengt Elde – han gör konst på sitt sätt.

Typiskt för Bengt Elde är de vita hästarna och träden. Fast jag gillar det mest som kommer från honom. Man kan stå länge länge och bara beundra detaljerna och glädjas över färgerna. Konst jag blir glad av.

Morrans tavlor hade en skön tydlig stil som jag verkligen gillade.

Och så den gamle konstnären Axel Fridell och hans…ja vad fan hette det…torrnålsgravyrskonst….fanns också. Denna skulle jag gärna ha på väggen hemma. Skulle kunna titta på den där herren länge.

Axel Fridell blev visst bara 35 år och hann med en jäkla massa på den korta tiden. Född i Falun var han också. 1894 enligt Wikipedia.

I år, likt förra året, är det många fester på gång.

Allt från glöggmingel till pepparkaksbak och julmiddagar och en dos metal.
Följande datum är vikta för olika aktiviteter:

1 december – glöggmingel i vasastan hos leverantör
1 december något senare än ovan – aw med kollega (vars syfte jag inte begriper – vad vill människan?)
3 december – jobbets julfest
4 december – spelning Källaren Telefonplan (HellShock, Sju Svåra År samt Sonic Ritual (?)
5 december – glöggmys hos U
10 december – Bandit most wanted på Debaser
11 december – Luciafirande på dagis
12 december – fest hos Tompa
13 december – årets pepparkaksbak
16 december – middag på stan med min avdelning
17 december – julmiddag på “fint” ställe med kund

Liksom förra året lär jag vara redo för avgiftning lagom till julafton.

Och när man ser på det så här i listform så borde jag förmodligen skita i
några av aktiviteterna, av rena hälsoskäl. För mitt i det här så ska jag
gissningsvis leverera en hel del arbete också.

Fick en förfrågan igår från Stora Kunden, om jag kunde tänka mig
konsulta lite hos dem, i deras organisation, i kommande projekt.
Jomenvisst sa jag.
Får bara hoppas min arbetsgivare tar bra betalt.
Kan ju bli jäkligt utmanande att få se hur de har det i sin organisation.
Kul som jämförelse. Och roligt att få utvecklas lite. Har varit på samma
ställe i tio år nu. Visst har jag utvecklats här. Enormt. Men ändå bra att
få göra något annat inom ramen för min anställning, so to speak.

Nu – åter till TV:n. Lillen kollar på ett skitdåligt program som heter
“Rampljuset” eller något åt det hållet. Talangtävling där det finns publik
och en jury som ska bedöma rolighetsgraden, skicklighet osv. En av jury-
medlemmarna är en oerhört bitter tolvårig flicka som alltid gnäller över något.
Provocerande irriterande. Vill nita henne.

Väntar nog en stund. Programmet måste ju ta slut nån gång.

Cz!

Shopping on Black Friday seems…stressful to me.  But going to the outlet mall on Thursday night to walk-off our food coma?  So necessary.  At 9:15 pm on November 26th, eight pilgrims departed Plymouth in search of one thing and one thing alone…DEALS! The following tale is our story from the 3rd Annual Albertville Outlet Mall Post-Thanksgiving Adventure.

9:20 pm I get into the car with Billy at which point he accuses me of reeking of booze.  Having spent the last four hours at Marcus’ family Thanksgiving, I am horrified.  We are listening to the Gopher basketball game so loudly, I fear for hearing damange.

9:21 pm Billy marvels over the wonder of radio technology and how exciting and suspenseful it is to listen to.  I inform him that this is what it was like to live in the 1930’s.

9:26 pm While filling up the gas tank, Billy wonders if it’s safe to run the car’s electric.  Asks me if I would like a stick of gum to cover up my booze breath.

9:28 pm Screams of  ”F***” fill the air.  Losing my hearing to the game.

9:30 pm Billy marvels at my knowledge that Butler’s student section is called “The Dawg Pound.”  I inform him that I know nothing about sports and everything about spirit.

9:34 pm Billy determines that it is the copious amount of Glugg! I consumed at Auntie Kim’s that is permeating my being.  I take this to mean I smell of cinnamon sticks and cloves vs. booze.   Fact: I did eat a large number of the raisins.

9:36 pm I am shushed.  This is like 1935.  Ah, the golden age of radio.  More F-bombs ensue.

9:37 pm SO many more F-bombs.  Eight miles until Albertville.  This is epic.  Praying to God that the game ends soon so  I can have my sanity back.

9:38 pm Apparently Blake is killing “them.”  I think “them” is Butler.  Also, F-the Refs and channeling Tubby Smith, we think he must be pissed about all of this.  We think they don’t look flustered but oh wait, we can’t actually tell because we’re listening to the radio.

9:43 pm Traffic is getting thicker.  We’re a mile away.  On final descent.

9:46 pm 1/2 mile away and trapped in traffic.  Jacki blames me for this.  Game plan is to go Ralph Lauren – Banana Republic – GAP.

9:47 pm Cops abound like crazy…I just want to know, is there like a MAJOR crime spike in St. Michael-Albertville on Thanksgiving?  I mean, literally every single cop in the area is at the mall.

9:55 pm Banana Republic is already open

10:02 pm Ralph Lauren is late.  Faux-devotees and brosephs abandon the line.  Still waiting.

10:05 pm Billy and Jacki are holding down the line, Marcus and I are checking out Banana, since Marcus is the only one of us who actually has a shopping game plan.

10:10 pm Despite my vow of poverty, I leave Banana with a green wrap, gray cardigan with shield (and front pockets!) and a pair of Nantucket Red shorts that were only $5.  When everything in the store is 50%, it’s actually worth buying.

10:15 pm Ralph Lauren lied.  They’re now opening at midnight.  Billy and Jacki abandon the line and crusade to Banana.  They do not find satisfactory deals.

10:30 pm We pay a visit to GAP.  Marcus and Jacki are successful but on the whole, the merchandise is not particularly satisfactory.

11:00 pm We’re the first in line at Ralph Lauren.  Besides the fact that for the evening, they’re an epic fail, we appreciate the opportunity to re-door bust.

11:05 pm People keep on trying to walk past us to get into the store and act like victims when they discover it isn’t open yet.  Like seriously?  Why on EARTH would we be standing outside of Ralph Lauren if we could be inside of Ralph Lauren?

11:24 pm Four women walk past us in shirts that say, “If you can read this…I just got your door buster.”  Billy’s take on the matter was that they were walking towards the mall proper without bags in tow so, “They just got there.  So they were liars.”

11:27 pm Trick skateboarders have appeared and the ambulance is gunning through the parking lot with its lights on.  Billy goes to investigate the situation and determines it was a false alarm.

11:56 pm Out of Ralph Lauren.  Billy is pissed they didn’t have a men’s sale rack, I am plus one rugby dress for yachting.  Being the champions we are, he and I plus Jacki purchase together to get the 20% off $150 discount.  Deals.

11:59 pm We go to round-up Adam and posse at the Reebok store.  Adam has obtained two more pairs of shoes.  I inform him that if this new habit means he’s done with the flat-brimmed hats, then I am 100% on the team.

12:05 am Walking past Bath & Body Works we are horrified by how long the line to get into the store is.  Like the stuff is really pretty cheap to begin with and frankly, we are completely baffled.

12:10 am While waiting to cross the street to get to the other parking lot, we discover that the outlet mall parking lots are full and closed.  Anyone who is trying to bust into this place now is really just an amateur.

12:27 am We’re still waiting for the cops to let us out from the lot, but to pass the time, we have a two-part Justin Bieber “One Time” sing along with harmony and moves.  As the song ends, we drive out of the lot and discover that now there are pilgrims who, due to the lack of parking are walking along the county road to get to the mall.  DEALS!

12:31 am There is a 2-mile long line of cars trying to get to the mall.

The highs were so high, the lows were so low.  But we were able to leave with DEALS! and our dignity intact.  TRex, a lovely sorority sister was also on the prowl with her team that epic evening, so hopefully you’ll be able to read her story as well in the coming week.

In a few minutes, I am embarking on my first real German roadtrip.  Markus is taking me home with him for the weekend.  Karen and Schnubbeln are coming too, and we’re swinging through Frankfurt on the way to pick up their other friend and give her a ride as well.  Markus is from a small town called Zwönitz in the Erzgebirge, the Ore Mountains.  It is near the larger town of Chemnitz, formerly known as Karl-Marx-Stadt, which is about an hour’s drive southwest of Dresden very near the Czech border.  On Saturday we’re going up to see Dresden, and then take in the local Zwönitz parade of miners and angels celebrating the beginning of Advent.  On Sunday Markus’ mom is making goose with all the trimings (whatever they may be).  As you can see from the map, we’re going almost all the way across Germany, which is 500+ kilometers.  How long it takes depends on the traffic (notoriously bad) and how fast Markus wants to drive.  When you don’t have speed limits on your highways, distances can be covered surprisingly fast.  We will be back late Sunday night, but I promise to take lots of pictures and get them posted next week.   Eastward ho!

Just wondering, how many people ventured out, after “stuffing yourself” with turkey and trimmings for midnight shopping, etc.?  Some friends I know start at midnight or even at 4 am, in search of good deals. 

So, my “Aloha Friday” question this Friday after Thanksgiving is . . .

Are you doing the “Black Friday” thing?  If so, did you find any great deals?

 If you’d like to participate in more Aloha Friday questions, click on over to  An Island Life for Kailani’s  “Aloha Friday

As for me, I think I’ll do some online shopping today; try to get some of my “mountain” of coursework done; perhaps start some Christmas decorating; and yes, I do have to go do some usual errands later in the day.  I’ll see what the crowds are like.

Whatever you’re doing on this day after Thanksgiving, ENJOY!

Lots of good news is on the way, but isn’t it best to get the bad stuff out of the way first? Yeah, I thought so too.

• When I went to make arrangements to have my furniture made (I realize that falls into the “good news” category, but wait a second and you’ll understand), I accidentally told the guy that I would pay him 1000 birr (about $90) more than I was saying in my head. I went out, thinking that it was all good until Kebede told me that I did “one bad thing.” Bummer. Hopefully we’ll get it straightened out tomorrow…
• I had to fire Dawit (my little 11-year old boy that helped Zenabu in the garden) today. This is the 4th time I’ve had to talk to him about sitting around while I’m paying him to work. I felt kinda like I was killing the kid, but he handled it better than I did.
• I leave on Sunday for a week in Dilla, where I will be attending a CHE training. I chose to put this in the “bad news” category, because I’m not at all excited about it yet. I’m traveling with someone that I can’t talk to, and have absolutely no idea when/where/how anything is happening for the whole week (aka, no control. I’ve never really thought of myself as a control freak, but maybe I am!)
• My wireless internet is on the fritz and I have no idea how to fix it, and only 1 ½ days before I leave for Dilla. A whole week without internet would be hard….

And onto the good news!

• I survived my first major holiday away from home, and it was great! I had clinic all day(that needs a post of its own), then Mary dropped me off at the hospital where I had a fantastic meal with that crew. And I wasn’t even homesick! I’m not sure I’ll be singing the same tune at Christmas.
• However, I might actually be happy at Christmas, because my friend is one step closer to being able to come! He just has to figure out how to get some frequent flyer miles from the account of one of his family members (with her permission, of course) into his. If he comes, he’ll fly in on Christmas Eve night. That means I’ll be in Addis (yuck) for Christmas, but I’ll be with a friend from home!
• I ordered furniture for my living room.
• Arrangements are currently being made to paint my living room in the next few weeks.
• My mom is sending me cute curtains for Christmas.
• My uncle is feeling good after his second chemo treatment. 
• Baby Sophie is super cute and so fun.
• Kebede and I went to the driving school today, and procured the driving manual (in Amharic, which Kebede will translate for me) AND my learner’s permit! Which means I can drive myself around! Of course I had a freak-out moment and made Kebede drive for the rest of the day, but that’s apparently just how I work. I’m sure that as I get more used to the idea, I’ll be ok.
• Depending on her health, Mary is thinking about going to clinic twice a week after Christmas.
• The weather here this time of year is perfect—70’s and sunny.
• God is good.
• I’m where I’m supposed to be.
• I am redeemed, restored, and forgiven!

What’s the best way to avoid too much setting?

The bare minimum

Stephen King is a writer that likes the idea of giving the reader the bare minimum in terms of description.

He feels that too much and you force the reader to see your characters and settings in your way.

He wants the reader to own the description – thus making the story specific to them.

The key here is, ‘the bare minimum.’  Stephen King is a master at knowing what is too much and what is too little. If you are not as blessed as Mr. King, what do you do?

Trial and error

Until you become an expert, you will have to follow the trusted steps of trial and error.

The rule mentioned before of one line per new scene is a good starting point.

The more important a place is, the more you describe – but remember, you don’t have to reveal it all at once. Revisits can be used to flesh out more and more.

More than a few lines to describe the setting and you’d better have a good reason for it.

Know your players. Different players will have different tastes – if they love long descriptions, give it to them.

Using the right words

If you have a habit of overstating the scenery, work on the words you use. The later reference to senses is particularly useful here.

Use language that doesn’t just describe in a flat way. Use alliteration and very specific descriptors to sharpen your description.

A word like ‘gloomy’ suggests both the state of the weather and of the mood. The better your vocabulary, the better your settings will work.

How do you ensure you engage your player’s senses?

The basic five

The five senses are not anything mystical. They are on the other hand, extremely powerful when it comes to creating a setting.

Little else sparks the imagination like an appropriately used sense.

There is, as ever, a balancing act.  If the sense used is too obscure, you won’t engage the players – and they’ll spend so much time trying to work out what you meant that they’d miss the next few words.

On the other hand, making it too hackneyed doesn’t really add any value. Try to avoid the tried and tested if you can. Be original without being alien.

The final point is to ensure you use all of the senses.

GMs will typically spend 99% of the time talking about what characters can see and only use the other 1% when the input is exceptional – a loud noise or a pungent smell.

In real life the mix of sensory perception is never this heavily weighted in favour of sight. Why should your adventure be any different?

The emotions

Emotions aren’t senses of course, but they are a powerful link to getting a player to understand the setting very quickly. If you can combine senses and emotion you will really hook the player quickly – and that’s why I have linked them here.

Describing an inanimate object by using an emotion on the face of it seems odd, but it can convey in a couple of words what could take a five minutes to explain.

If your characters come to a ‘lonely house’ or enter a ‘confused room’ then you have started to evoke multiple images in the players’ mind – and only a small amount more description will enable the players to fully understand what you mean.

Understanding the levels of setting

Metaphors etc.

The subtlest way to describe is to say how the setting resembles something the players know well (or the other way around).  Each serves it’s own purpose but writers regularly confuse their uses.

a. Metaphors

This is an implication. There is no statement that there is a link; we simply use the resemblance.

‘She walked catlike across the roof of the villa.’

Nobody expects the character to have fur and a tail. If ‘she’ were a cat, we would say she simply walked – cats, by definition, walk catlike.

This one word suggests she walks assuredly, softly, secretively and no doubt evokes the image of a cat burglar. The players will probably already suspect that she is up to no good.

b. Similes

Here we add the prefix ‘like’ or ‘as’ and therefore by definition create more of a signpost to the link.

‘She walked across the villa’s roof like a cat.’

The same result but a different and less subtle route.

c. Analogies

This is the least subtle option as we tell the player that something was like something else and include a comparison.

‘Her journey across the roof of the villa was like a cat stalking its next meal as she made every effort to make no sound and reacted instinctively to every small movement around her.’

d. Allusions

Here you make reference to someone or something famous.

‘Felicity the burglar. The wonderful, wonderful burglar.’

I chose this on purpose – and if you didn’t understand it, I’ve proved my point.

If you’ve never seen or heard of Felix the Cat, the allusion is wasted. Worse still, the players would wonder what on earth the words mean. If they do get it, they feel pleased with themselves.

(If you still don’t get it, ask someone older than you to sing the ‘Felix the Cat’ song (or YouTube it).  Then you’ll get it).

Allusions are dangerous ground.

e. Personification

This is a variation, where an inanimate object (or sometimes flora or fauna) is given a human trait.

‘The fog hugged her body as she sat on the villa’s roof.’

Next time out I’ll talk about using nature in setting.

him: “we can’t sneak in there. it’s closed to the public.”

me: “yes we can. pull up to the gate.”

him: sigh

me: squealing with excitement. then rolling down my window like a sedate matron with a 50 billion dollar trust fund.

me: “bullshit. blah blah blah bullshit. more bullshit.” smile. smile. smile. hair flip. smile. “bullshit bullshit bullshit” here’s my card.

guard: “Here are two tickets, mimi. Young man, drive to the top of the hill and park. They’ll escort you through Mr. Getty’s private art collection from there.”

our car: driving away, windows zipping up.

him: laughing

me: laughing