Hi Reader, Welcome! Please come in. It's been raining out, and the air smells clean. Here on the table, a tall glass bottle has a stalk of creeping bellflower. Apparently it's a noxious weed, but I admire weeds. They just don't care where you think they're supposed to be. They're irrepressible. Last week, Thursday through Sunday, I exhibited at Origins Game Fair. And I have to say, I love this con so much. The people, the vibe. Everyoneās excited to be there. I met tons of new queer people....
28 days agoĀ ā¢Ā 1 min read
Hi Reader, Welcome! Please, come in. Our dogwood is finally blooming, so I put some of its flowers in a bowl of water. Back in high school, I was a theater kid. Mostly tech, but on stage a few times. I hadn't decided if I was there to hide myself or show it. One day after school, I wandered past the auditoriumās stage door. On the door-glass, someone had taped a sign. In a high school studentās scrawl, the sign said: WE, the Bavarian IlluminatiāWHO CONTROL EVERYTHINGāissue you this warning:...
about 2 months agoĀ ā¢Ā 2 min read
Hi Reader, Welcome, please come in. This week, we're meeting a little, sun-baked apartment in Mexico City. A glass tumbler has some purple jacaranda flowers. I came down to Mexico to visit family, but I also bought a ticket to a great games convention here called MegaXP. Ā”Bienvenidos! Although I donāt know much Spanish, my phone does get internet, and it was easy enough to take an Uber to the World Trade Center Ciudad de MĆ©xico. Inside, I had to ask the person at the Registration desk if they...
about 2 months agoĀ ā¢Ā 1 min read
Hi Reader, Welcome! Please, come in. Itās raining a lot lately hereāI'll take your coat. I found some white starflowers in the woods, and I put them in a vase on the table. I love science fiction. I especially love āspace operaāāthat is, interstellar adventure. (No actual opera in it.) This genre gives me a sense of possibility that I need. I donāt care how realistic it is, so long as the writers sell me on it. And I'm an easy sell. For years, I needed to believe I could be an alien. Or a...
3 months agoĀ ā¢Ā 3 min read
Hi Reader, Welcome! Please, come in. On the table, we have irrepressible daisies, rather hastily stuck in a jam jar. No, donāt go in the kitchen. If you want some water, I can get it for you. Just. Stay here. The thing is, in our house, M does all the cooking. I should cook more, but I keep passing up opportunities to learn. So, yesterday evening, when M was headed out for a work-related event, I said, āIām going to step up. Iām not getting take-out. No. Iām going to broil salmon.ā I...
3 months agoĀ ā¢Ā 2 min read
Hi Reader, Welcome! Please, come in. Make yourself at home. It's so good to see you. I brought in some wild violets and dandelion flowers from the back yard and put them in a bowl of water. Iāve been reading up on A.I. Itās mind-boggling what it can doāand how fast it's changing. It can write and draw things that look like a person made them. But it's not great on factual accuracy or single-point perspective. The thing is, it's always "hallucinating"āfumbling blindly, algorithmically, for...
3 months agoĀ ā¢Ā 2 min read
Hi Reader, Welcome! Please, come in. Help yourself to snacks. I cut some daffodils and put them in a mason jar with clean water. I think daffs like a simple presentation, don't you? Guess what. The number of guests at our house has increased recently. Spring has sprung. Three days ago, Udo (our aging husky) found tiny rabbits. a tiny cottontail bun, going back in the nest They're cottontails. Just three days old at the time, I'm guessing. They're snug in a hole Udo dug under our back deck....
3 months agoĀ ā¢Ā 2 min read
Hi Reader, Welcome! Please, come sit by the fire. Tonight, weāre at a campground in the path of the solar eclipse. We have a picnic table to game on. After the game, we can sleep in tents under the stars. In the cool morning, a drop of royal dew will crown each blade of grass. I brought food we can cook over the fire, trail mix, and some black-and-white cookies. They seemed appropriate. I also brought all the eclipse-themed RPGs I could find. Let's see: The Dark Sun setting for Dungeons &...
4 months agoĀ ā¢Ā 2 min read
Hi Reader, Welcome! Please, come in and sit down. Tonight, I have cookies. You deserve a cookie. On the table, I have a few purple vinca flowers. I'm not gonna lie, I'm feeling pretty heavy tonight. If you're not up for that, maybe skip this week's game night. You're always welcome back. The thing is, I talk a lot about wonder. For me, "wonder" means a sense of possibility, in its purest, most kid-like form. It keeps me going. But to get real for a minute? In our world, wonder often has a job...
4 months agoĀ ā¢Ā 2 min read