Having seen several folks I respect voicing concerns about MeWe, hate speech, and hate groups, and after watching the relevant section of the YouTube interview where they addressed that topic, I found the official line pretty unconvincing. So I emailed MeWe a question about their policy on hate speech and hate groups: “Howdy! I’m a […]
Google+ diaspora: MeWe isn’t for me Read More »
I tried to get into Flash a few years ago, with its New 52 incarnation, and it didn’t grab me — but the itch remained. This week I sampled a Geoff Johns issue, then a Rebirth (paid link) issue, then a couple issues of Flashpoint[1] (paid link) — and with every one, I became both
My starting point for the Flash: Mark Waid’s Born to Run storyline Read More »
When I was in 4th or 5th grade, my art teacher gave me a copy of Squadron Supreme #12. Back then I devoured every comic I could get my hands on, so this being the final issue of a limited series I knew nothing about didn’t phase me — I dove right in. What I
Squadron Supreme blew my mind as a kid, and it’s still amazing Read More »
I’ve decided to come out publicly as bisexual. I realized I was bi at at 19 or 20, and came out to a handful of folks over the years, but it’s taken me until age 40 to get to this point. I didn’t think hiding part of my identity was setting a good example for
Recently I’ve been thinking about this Paul Bowles quote, which I first saw on Brandon Lee‘s gravestone, in relation to gaming: “Because we don’t know when we will die, we get to think of life as an inexhaustible well. Yet everything happens only a certain number of times, and a very small number really. How
Twenty more moonrises Read More »
Around the end of the year, I usually take a look back at my gaming over the previous 12 months.[1] This time around, I decided to graph my board game and RPG sessions for every year for which I have complete data: 2009-2017.[2] Here’s a graph comparing RPG and board game plays for these years,
A snapshot of my RPG and board game plays, 2009-2017 Read More »
Ever since I turned 40, I’ve been more aware of, and thinking more often about, my own mortality. (So clichéd! I know.) One of the most comforting things I’ve stumbled across is this Epicurean epitaph: I was not; I have been; I am not; I do not mind. The idea that I won’t exist is
As a kid, I used to spend hours poring over any sort of “superheroes A-Z” content I could find. I had some that came in issues of comics, and the long-running Marvel-phile column in Dragon, and probably other sources I’ve forgotten about. When I started playing TSR’s Marvel Super Heroes, I traced hero silhouettes from
The Marvel Encyclopedia is awesome Read More »
Thanks to the inimitable Alex Schroeder, I followed a link to this excellent 2005 essay by Michael Andre-Driussi: Deciphering the Text Foundations of Traveller. Here’s Driussi’s thesis: “The creators of CT wanted the anarchic, amoral, and violent adventure of fantasy role playing translated into a science fiction setting. They also wanted a kind of science
Traveller’s literary sources Read More »
Nick Abadzis‘ and Hilary Sycamore‘s Laika (paid link) is meditative, thorough, and heartbreaking. Everything I knew about Laika — the first orbital space traveler, a stray dog trained and conditioned for her one-way mission — before reading this book came from her Wikipedia entry and small exhibits about her at aerospace museums. I now know
Laika is meditative and heartbreaking Read More »
