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January 2, 2008
"I Wanna Go to School"
That's what Gen said to us on the 3rd day of her 11-day break.
School is where she plays with her friends. Home is where the fusty parental units try to keep her entertained with old toys and not too much TV.
Then Christmas arrived, Santa brought her a bunch of new toys, and things got better. This morning, she was actually torn between playing with her new train set and heading off to school, but she trotted happily to the car when it was time to go.
January 4, 2008
It Rhymes with "Wax Mutts for the Glitch"
CNBC says: "Bush May Propose Economic Stimulus Package"
Hmm, I wonder what he's got in mind?
January 7, 2008
If Adventure has a Year, it's 2008
As an experiment, I was thinking I'd limit this year of gaming to the following genres:
- Adventure - Including any number of old Infocom text adventures
- Puzzle - Ideally in a story setting
- Alternate Reality Games - most recent example: Find 815
- Perplex City Puzzle Cards
- Survival Horror with puzzle elements
- Independent Games
- Best Games Nobody Played
- Occasional Oddities - just to vary things up
The idea is, in general, to focus on games where content has more utility and is less of a polished backdrop for an unrelated activity (i.e. killing stuff). There are a lot of games that invite you to skip the cutscenes, skim the writing, and ignore the art. I want to go in the opposite direction, playing games in which you have to - and want to - focus on every crafted part of the experience.
Not quite sure why I'm doing this yet; it's like a call that I have to heed, back to the ancestral lands, my gaming origins. I'll post more on the rationale in a few days, and report on what I discover over time. For now I just want to grab my walking stick and get started.
January 19, 2008
"You Can't Take the Law from me, since I found Theocracy..."
Mike Huckabee:
"I have opponents in this race who do not want to change the Constitution," Huckabee told a Michigan audience on Monday. "But I believe it's a lot easier to change the Constitution than it would be to change the word of the living god. And that's what we need to do -- to amend the Constitution so it's in God's standards rather than try to change God's standards so it lines up with some contemporary view."
January 20, 2008
Look Who's Talking Trash
The Genevieve quote factory is in full production these days. Note in particular how she likes to seize on evidence of parental fallibility for comment:
You forgot!
You're going the wrong way!
How's that funny? (We think this is a variant on "Isn't that funny?" but it sounds to me like something Joe Pesci would say in Goodfellas: "How's that funny? Do I amuse you?")
Mom's gonna play with me, and you do some clicking. (i.e. Do whatever the hell you're always doing on the computer.)
Livia: "Sometimes the trains will sit at a little dead end like this..."
Gen: "And they're dead!"You can tryyyy. (This started as a standard encouragement from us to her. Now it comes back at us when, for instance, we say the Hobby Shop is probably closed at 9pm so we can't go. "You can tryyyy.")
Next year I go to the pumpkin patch. And papa not work so much. (Heh. Ahem.)
I'm gonna let my feet blow. (No, we don't know either.)
And my favorite:
Now I'm gonna get funny. (I don't know what this means either, but it sounds like a movie hero who's about to deliver a beat-down.)
January 23, 2008
From the "Headlines I Wish I'd Written" Dept.
This post at Daily Kos
"Lies, Damned Lies, and a Searchable Database of Lies"
February 4, 2008
I'll Take Sports Matchups for the Win, Alex
I was in the checkout line on Sunday where a woman was talking to the cashier. He had apparently asked her about the Superbowl, but she disavowed any interest in sports. She said "I know it's the Patriots vs. the Giants. but that's about it." That was news to me, of course; I didn't even know there was a game.
The cashier asked me what I thought, and I gamely tried to "guy up". I said my loyalties were torn because I was born in Boston, so I should root for the Patriots but I've spent half my life in San Francisco, so I should also root for the Giants.
He gave me a vaguely indulgent smile and handed me a receipt. "OK, you have a good Sunday", he said.
After thinking about it on the way home, I decided that Boston should take home the pennant this year. Anyone know who won?
February 7, 2008
And there's some guy with a bat too
From the Comcast On Demand schedule:
March 7, 2008
Who Knew?
Turns out, life just flies right along whether you're blogging about it or not.
March 28, 2008
Dammit, I Wanted to be a Monk
According to the survey at What Kind of Dungeons and Dragons Character Would You Be?, here are my stats:
Strength: 11Dexterity: 12
Constitution: 11
Intelligence: 14
Wisdom: 11
Charisma: 12
Race: Human
Class: Wizard
Alignment: Chaotic Good
A chaotic good character acts as his conscience directs him with little regard for what others expect of him. He makes his own way, but he's kind and benevolent. He believes in goodness and right but has little use for laws and regulations. He hates it when people try to intimidate others and tell them what to do. He follows his own moral compass, which, although good, may not agree with that of society. Chaotic good is the best alignment you can be because it combines a good heart with a free spirit. However, chaotic good can be a dangerous alignment because it disrupts the order of society and punishes those who do well for themselves.
March 29, 2008
While I'm on the Subject...
Here's a Gary Gygax mention from George Stephanopoulos' show.
I'm actually posting this as a sample of the very moving In Memoriam segments that play every week on the show. Video obits are standard fare on TV, but something about these leaves me fumbling for a kleenex every time.
Looking for more grief? There's a fellow on YouTube (canofwhoopass4u!) who collects
'em all.
April 1, 2008
April Fools R Us
It's a shame. For a while there, I thought we had a chance to put the wheels back on the road and get out of the last-gen rut.
(On the bright side, I've been wanting to take a few days off. Just not so many days off.)
April 10, 2008
Get Lamp
For text adventure fans (or maybe any game developer) this looks like a must-see:
April 14, 2008
Spotless Mind
I happen to be playing three games right now in which the main character has amnesia.
Not really a complaint though - just an observation.
April 17, 2008
Things I Didn't Know #4: Titanic, Olympic, Gigantic
Perhaps I didn't know this because I ignored Titanic-mania when the movie came out. But I am curious whether this is new information to anyone else.
In brief, the Titanic had two sister ships:
Olympic - Over 20 years of service, the Olympic collided with no less than three ships, sinking two of them (one a German submarine).
Brittanic - Originally dubbed Gigantic, it was launched as a hospital ship during World War I. Less than a year later, it struck a mine and sank in the Aegean Sea.
I also didn't know that Harland and Wolff, the builders of all three ships, are still in business.
April 20, 2008
Defining Down 'Analysis'
If you want to understand how the war has been marketed from before it started and for the past five years, this is a must read.
The first several paragraphs make it sound like an energetic spin machine - we're all used to that. But read further! The article describes a short-circuited feedback system, in which the most 'credible' voices in the media discussion are just another PR arm of the Pentagon.
Scary stuff.
April 22, 2008
The New New Thing
That's where I'll be working next Monday. I never thought I'd be commuting to SF, but man o man it looks like a fun new adventure.
More later.
April 23, 2008
Most. Annoying. Primary Season. Ever.
It wasn't long ago I didn't much care who won - I liked all the Democrats. Now I just want Clinton to go away, since the only way she'll win the nomination is by subverting the popular vote or exploiting bad-faith cheats like Michigan and Florida.
Then there's the pissy factionalism: "If my candidate doesn't win the primary, I'll vote for McCain." I'd like to above all that, but if Clinton wins by hook and crook, I'll be tempted to stay home. If, on the other hand, she's just trying to be an indispensable, inevitable VP pick, I guess... sigh... I can respect that.
(At this moment on the teevee, she's pointing out that Obama outspent her 3-to-1 in Pennsylvania. She might as well be saying he outraised her 3-to-1, which doesn't make her look good. After all, electability is about fundraising too; you'd think by now she'd be unbeatable at that particular game.)
May 19, 2008
Well, you can use a Hit Counter, or you can just Misdate all your Posts and see if anyone notices
I just discovered that every post since February has been dated 2007.
May 26, 2008
Picture Catch-up
If you visit this site mainly for pictures of Gen, your patience is about to pay off. I'm going to start where I left off and post frequently to get caught up.
Here's Mina and Gen getting excited about Christmas at the local Tree Farm.
June 14, 2008
Picture Catch-up: Christmas 2007
In case you're wondering, we were playing with the farmhouse and the train set as late as last night. The ladybug tent and Rollaball lasted about a week before disinterest set in.
July 5, 2008
Picture Catch-up: Christmas 2007
July 6, 2008
Picture Catch-up: New Years Eve 2007
July 14, 2008
Picture Catch-up: New Years Eve 2007
After the 23rd woozy rendition of "Grapefruit Moon", we decided to start wrapping things up.
July 20, 2008
Thanks, but No Thanks.
Just got our "2008 Economic Stimulus Payment", and we're putting it in Genevieve's savings account. That way it goes right back where it was taken from - our kid's future.