1/1/09: You're going to have to work pretty hard to beat your predecessor, which, as years went, was ... let's just leave it at "notable." You know what I'm talking about. Well, you and Sandra. Nobody else knows all of it, but many of you out there know fragments of it (especially those of you who are fragments of it). And many thanks for all that.

Cryptic musings aside, it's nice to take a moment to remember I have a homepage. Hiya, folks. I hope your New Years Eve was a festive one. For my part, I was kind of shuffling back and forth between two groups of friends, comedy-of-errors fashion. Nothing went as planned but everything went well, and in the end I could tally up a half-dozen happy-new-year hugs from cute, inebriated strangers, two very kind (but politely refused) offers of free booze, some pretty dramatic scenery (of all kinds, but mostly the fireworks) up on the roof of our building, easily a hundred well-wishes on the streets (up on Colfax they were especially gregarious), a rousing tale of a ten-minute dash across town to make a party after being released by the police at 11:50 (I was just enjoying the tale; not telling it), yummy New Year's kisses from Sandra, of course (a few minutes late, but near enough), some very tired feet from walking the same mile and change four different times, and (last but not least) a very fine plate of eggs, over easy, with rye toast.

So, Happy New Year, indeed. Bet it's gonna be a hoot.

Autumn Creeps In

10/14/08: Autumn inches into play here in Denver, and it's busy inching right now, treating us to the freshness of cold rain, the calm of grey skies, and the invigorating smells of icy air and woodsmoke. Real autumn isn't quite here yet, but summer is dying.

So, on my annual burst of cool-weather energy, I'm putting things back together after an unorthodox few weeks. My laptop died some time ago, sending work into a bit of a slump pending the arrival of a replacement. The replacement arrived packed with corrupt RAM, keeping work in the slump pending the arrival of the replacement RAM module (sent several days after I requested it ... by the slowest ground shipping they could find).

The laptop wasn't the only unusual thing in the time since my last update; there was also a Uresia campaign that spun some new things into our lives around here, but that is a long story for another time. Some kind of deathbed confession, perhaps.

The short version is that the new laptop is up to speed, now; life is good and different in a nice way, and Sandra and I are as cheery as ever. Right now I'm a bit sleepy, but that's okay ... when I'm too tired to do other stuff, I remember to update the Blue Room!

Got An Adventure In You?

7/02/08: If so, July is the month to get it out. We're now in the second annual World Adventure Writing Month, and if you're not sure what that means there's a blog and a forum and an archive of last year's adventures you should know about.

The concept is pretty straightforward, founded on the basic notion that there aren't enough RPG adventures in the world, and that if we set aside a specific time each year for mutual encouragement and celebration, maybe we can bring a few more into the light where they can be played and enjoyed. There are no real rules to follow, just: write an RPG adventure, any kind of RPG adventure, for whatever game you enjoy or for no game in particular or multi-statted or self contained or ... whatever smacks your buzzer. I intend to get one in myself this year, as time permits. Stuck for notions? I've got a page for that.

Overnight Flurries in Hell

6/19/08: Fifteen years ago, I rambled out a thing, and over time mostly forgot it until I'd dig it out of old files and read about it again. Then I'd talk about it and then forget it again. And then someone would ask me about it again, and then I'd forget it again. And for a decade and change, I've promised I'd never (ever) publish it, but here it is. And when you read it, you'll see ... that I really can worry too much. But we knew that. Hi there! Oh, and here are two spiffy new reviews for ToaSK and Uresia!

Spiffing

5/29/08: We're nearly done with the move ... we have some housecleaning to finish up at the old place this week, but that's not too bad; it's a different sort of way to pass the time (tonight Sandra will be doing the floors while I scrub out the fridge). It's a bit icky, and I think I've ingested a half-pound of dust so far, but with Sandra around anything's a lot more fun. At the new place, our stuff is still packed into a mountain of cardboard boxes; that'll change a lot more gradually, knowing us ...

Over at Cumberland, the Fontworks pages have beefed up dramatically overnight, going from twenty-something free fonts to nearly fifty, collecting some more of my favorites from the last nine years (including all of the most recent ones from the Free Stuff of the Moment page). I've also posted some signifigant changes to the Playtest page.

To follow up on the last post, about summer movies: I liked Kingdom of the Crystal Skull a lot more than I was worried I was going to. I think it's roughly on par with (and here I go damning it with faint praise) the other two Indiana Jones sequels: forgettable, disposable, muddled ... but decidedly well-meaning. Well-meaning goes a long way with me. So does putting Cate Blanchett in flared jodhpurs.

Moving Things

5/02/08: My celebratory work of text-adventure tomfoolery has enjoyed a few surprises in its first few months of existence, including an very kind review by Emily Short (a celebrated champion of exactly the kind of intelligent, sensitive work that ToaSK isn't) and even an IF-community award nomination (on the scale of these things, this would have required only two ToaSK customers to vote for the nomination, but that's two more than I would have expected). Groovy!

On the personal front, Sandra and I are moving again ... but nothing interstate this time. We love Capitol Hill so much we were determined to stay in the neighborhood, so we're moving just one block south, to get a place with better air-conditioning (our current apartment is great, but the drawback of a 15-foot mountain-facing window is a devastating afternoon greenhouse effect, and 1942 tenement buildings don't have the best AC). Our new apartment was built a whole decade later and (more importantly) has windows almost entirely shielded from direct sun ...

On matters of general geekery, it's that time again, when the summer blockbusters start rolling out. We're heading out to see Iron Man tonight, which I look forward to with high hopes. I'm still a little uneasy about the new Indiana Jones flick, though. On the one hand, Raiders of the Lost Ark remains one of my favorite films of all time ... and readers of Warehouse 23 already know that I loves me some Crystal Skull ... but on the other hand, Indiana Jones sequels were dodgy affairs even in the 80s, and George Lucas' recent record of franchise revival hasn't been a good trip overall. I'll be there (probably six or seven times, again), ready to hear the old music and very very ready to see Harrison Ford back under a wool-felt fedora, but, for the record, I have an uneasy feeling. Still, we've got Wall-E on the way, too, to provide consolation if things don't go well.

On other work matters: everything's trucking along, though slower than I (and probably anyone else) would prefer. Such is the way, but things are starting to shape up into final states a few at a time, now, and I daresay, the wait will be worth it ...

Very Happy Holidays

12/27/07: Sandra and I have enjoyed a decade of great Christmases together, but this was the first time we got to enjoy a white Christmas as a couple. The snow (falling again as I write this) is proper Christmas snow, too ... white and fluffy and twirling gently. Just enough to cover the ground with a softly-crunching blanket of white, not so much that we couldn't head out on Christmas day to enjoy it. And we did ... and we also stayed snug inside to enjoy good food and each other's company. Caught Walk Hard later in the day. Goofy and clever.

Christmas was also a special day-of-rest for me. On Christmas Eve, I released the latest Cumberland title, which is (in many ways) the most ambitious (and risky) release I've ever had (ToaSK beats out GURPS Russia for wordcount, making it my largest published work, never to be trumped until Fly From Evil finally sees the light of day). Like all my Encounter Critical material, this new text-adventure is all heart and precious few brains, at least on the surface. Beneath that, there's a whole lot more ... but I'll leave that to those with the funky barbarian groove to discover it.

And that's most of the news, lately. Our friend Tim Driscoll was out to visit not too long ago, so it was nice showing Denver off (again, under some snow), and the new Doctor Who Christmas Special is the greatest thing since sliced fun, but apart from that it's just: snuggles continue. Hope the same is true for you.

Winner, Best Chase Scene

10/8/07: Another breath of cold air hit Denver today, inspiring Sandra and I to venture out a bit and get back over to the Denver Zoo (for our third visit). We got there a little late in the day, so it wasn't a long trip this time, but the highlight was watching a kangaroo chase an emu. The two animals move so very differently, it was like every radiant wave of physical comedy on the planet suddenly converged on the Denver Zoo at that moment. It helped, too, that the kangaroo (accidentally?) switched emu in mid-stride at one point, refreshing the chase with better-rested quarry.

If I were a kangaroo, I'd totally chase emu all day, now that I know how much it rocks.

Noticing the Internet

9/15/07: My life centers on two things: (A) snuggling, city-wandering and otherwise enjoying wedded bliss with Sandra and (B) getting bleary-eyed in front of my dusty old ThinkPad working on Cumberland Games stuff. It's fair to say that I feel a little rusty, some days, when it comes to the full depth of the Internet. I spend a couple of hours online a day, mind you - checking up on Google News and using the IMDb and dropping into DeviantArt and whatnot - but I don't read a single webcomic. I'm barely aware of the blogosphere. I don't Facebook or MySpace. Most of my attempts to listen to podcasts have resulted in something approaching tedium-induced coma. There are whole chunks of Net culture I take little advantage of, or find flat-out confusing or dull. Many of them would probably thrill me if I gave them the time, but see above about the (A) and the (B). Those two things keep me busy and very, very happy.

So I'm pleased to report on two recent things that have turned my head. One is a net-distributed fan film and the other is a nerdcore hip-hop music video. These things may be old news to you, but just in case ...

Sandra and I first heard about Star Trek: New Voyages from Walter Koenig, while we were chatting with him at a fan-swagfest in Dallas not long ago. He and many other Trek alumni, he explained, were pitching in on these fan-films. I took note, bookmarked the site when I got home, and then, due mostly to the Colorado move, forgot about it for a while.

This morning, Sandra and I watched the most recent episode, and ... it's really good. I mean, the acting is often fannish and uneven, and at first (of course) it's awkward accepting these new people as Kirk and company. And the introductory crisis could, for my tastes, rush through the technobabble a few minutes faster to get the story started. But once George Takei beams into shot, the story is started, and the story is good. It's a screenplay dusted off from the aborted Trek II TV series of the 1970s, and it's one well worth brushing off. Takei is marvelous and I had tears streaming by the end, but I'm a sap, so that happens. I've cried for McDonald's commercials. But only the Christmas ones.

Special notice goes to actress Christina Moses. I assumed that, like a handful of folks on the show, she was one of the experienced actors pitching in to help the fans. She's heartbreakingly sweet and grabs your attention like a pro. But it turns out she isn't a pro just yet ... This is her first thing (the IMDb credits her for a bit part in a TV movie 15 years ago, but I suspect it's a different actress with the same name). Christina Moses. Remember the name and wish her luck, because she rocks and she's a total sweetheart.

Okay, but as an established Trek fan it's not a huge stretch that I might watch a fan-film when Chekov tells me to. Right. But "nerdcore hip-hop?"

As friends know I'm a big admirer of the text-adventure games of the 1980s. I'm also busy writing one of my own - a fairly huge Uresia adventure to be released through Cumberland. I'm especially fond of the Infocom titles, and extra-especially fond of the works of Brian Moriarty (Beyond Zork, Wishbringer), Steve Meretsky (Leather Goddesses of Phobos, Planetfall) and Douglas Adams (Bureacracy, Hitchhiker's Guide). I never owned a computer in the 80s, so by the time I got truly hooked on them Infocom was dead and gone and I was already worshipping at the altar of Doom II, but genius is genius and they hooked me hard (as a teen, I'd "played" only a couple of them, by way of sitting behind friends, watching them type, and helping with the puzzles as a second pair of eyes).

So when I see notice that there's a new documentary in the works about them, and that there's a new hip-hop video attached to it ("It is Pitch Dark"), I download both. I'm already reasonably confident I'll be praising the documentary when the time comes. In the meantime I've been watching the video over and over, impressed and only mildly annoyed that I can't get the song unstuck from my head. But I'll cope. It's worth it. For both files (the Trek thing and the nerdcore) it might be easiest on everyone's bandwidth to crank up your favorite torrent client. And if you don't have one of those, you're even further out of the Internet loop than I am ...