Happy Birthday, Naomi!
You are 34 months old today, and you know that a fistful of cheezies is tastier when you’re swinging in a hammock.
A Conversation Between Our Children That Is So Cute It Makes Up For A Lot of Guff
Ben is stuck on his bicycle. He wants our help to get the wheels and pedals moving, but we’re telling him to use his legs. Naomi is not riding her tricycle, but is walking with us.
Ben: “Help! Help!”
Naomi: “I’ll help you, Benny.” She toddles towards him. “Get ready.”
She pulls the bike forward. She’s strong that way.
Ben, peddling madly: “Thank you, Nomi!”
Naomi, running alongside him: “You’re welcome.”
Dina and I can’t quite believe what we’ve seen.
Can You Be a CCG Grognard*?
I gave up on playing Magic: The Gathering for two reasons: cost, and the Mirage expansion. The heyday of my collecting years were the Revised – Fallen Empires – 4th Edition – Chronicles – Ice Age – Alliances years, which was when the game really took off, demand far outstripped supply and, to make matters worse, distributors held back supply of Alliances cards, forcing booster prices sky-high.
Then I read the new rules for Mirage-Visions expansion, and I realized that it was time to give up the game. I didn’t want to learn any new rules for flanking, or echo, or how to play an ability as a mana source. I was fine with banding, first-strike and cumulative upkeep, thank you very much.
Years later, my decision to get out of the game was confirmed. Keeping up with the pace of new cards was hard enough, but when 6th Edition rolled around and the rules themselves changed, I quit the game for good. After years of dealing with relatively simple “last-in, first-out, with a hundred exceptions” timing from the earlier editions, I couldn’t handle “the stack” metaphor for timing. My friend Peter tried to explain it to me, using the old regeneration ability as an example. Instead of regenerating a dead creature after lethal damage under the new rules, the regeneration ability had to be used in anticipation of the lethal damage. This blew my mind, but not in a good way.
I had gotten rid of my Magic cards long before then. I traded the rares in for Middle Earth, Netrunner and X-Files cards. I kept the commons for years, but dumped them in the recycling bin three years ago. The high school kids swiped them over recess. I’m sure they were disappointed when they tried to sell them at the local shops.
Still, I missed playing, from time to time. Since I went out of my way to collect a set of the D&D books that brought me into the world of hobby gaming, I decided to dip my toes lightly back into the waters of Magic. I bought the trade stock from Quantum, but I stuck to my favourite sets: Ice Age and Alliances. I’ve got more than enough cards – even the power cards – to build some fun decks, when the opportunity presents itself. I won’t be winning any tournaments, but I’ll be having fun.
Now, to find room for the cards under my desk…
*A grognard is a gamer term for a steadfast, old-fashioned, slighty cantankerous gamer who prefers the old ways to these new-fangled inventions. The term was originally used for miniatures wargamers, because a grognard was a Napoleonic soldier, but has been generalized fogey hobbyists of all stripes.
Spell Secrets Revealed (for a modest fee)
The only gaming product I ever purchased on a subscription was the Behind the Spells series written by Bret Boyd and published first by Ronin Arts and then by Bret’s startup concern, Tricky Owlbear Publishing. It was one of those concepts that I couldn’t believe hadn’t already been snapped up – a series of articles detailing the history of the common D&D spells. It was a spellcaster’s variant on the classic Monster Ecologies from Dragon Magazine.
I bought the first two or three and then, when the subscription option became available, I stayed on board until the rest were published. Bret has a knack for creating an interesting story for something as seemingly banal as levitate or wall of stone, or as complex and cool as prismatic spray.
When Bret asked me if I’d be interested in producing the layout for a collected edition of the original 36 issues, after he had seen my work on the Open Design projects, I jumped at the chance.
My copy of the softcover arrived in the mail this evening. It’s a proud addition to my bookshelf. I hope it continue to be a strong seller for Tricky Owlbear. The reviews are certainly good.
Play Ball!
Here’s my answer to the Open Question about summer sports:
When I was younger, summer didn’t begin with the end of the elementary school year. No, summer began a little bit earlier, on that fateful day when the municipal activity calendar arrived in the mailbox. This booklet listed all the sports and recreational activities available to the residents of our ever-growing suburb – everything from archery to calligraphy, flag football to watercolours.
The only time I really got excited at the prospect of summer sports was when I read about them in that book. I was especially intrigued/puzzled by the age designations. What was the difference between midget, peewee and bantam football, anyway?
I remember playing soccer…for a season. There may have been more. I remember playing two years of T-ball, which was fun, but I only ever threw one player out at first, and I never remember scoring a run. Being a tall kid, I tried a couple of sessions of basketball, but my uncoordinated nature got the best of me. I mostly remember the snack breaks, and the sip-sacks bought in bulk from Perette’s (a now-defunct chain of corner stores – also where I used to buy comics, back in the day).
I did go through Cub Scouts though. That was a lot of fun and kept me busy all summer, but I never went into full-fledged Scouting.
I never did try archery, but I always wanted to. It would have scratched that Robin Hood / Rocket Robin Hood / Green Arrow / Hawkeye itch I had.
Imagine my reaction when I learned that Dina used to teach archery! It wasn’t dignified, let me tell you!
She still has her bows in the basement…as if she weren’t cool enough already.
Bedbugs Bite
Two weeks ago, our landlords returned from vacation to discover that their bedroom had been infested with bedbugs. It had probably been infested for a long time, but they never reacted to the bedbug bites (which happens, from time to time).
So, they had the Orkin guy come over, spray and bug bomb the place, and they have since spent the last two weeks washing every scrap of fabric they own. Oh, and they were told not to use their bedroom for 21 days while any remaining eggs hatched and promptly died.
The one consolation, they told us, was that the bugs seemed to be contained to their bedroom.
Yesterday morning, Dina woke up with bites on her arm and chest. I was clear, being the less-delicious spouse. While she showered, I flipped over the mattress and box spring and found one of the little bastards – I whipped out a plastic bag and a pair of tweezers and did my best CSI imitation.
I was hoping against hope that
Then I phoned Orkin, and was told by the dispatcher that the exterminator was really busy this week, but he’d phone back to make an appointment. I took the kids out to the park instead of the Eco-Museum, as planned, and Dina waited for the call. By noon, the call didn’t come, so I grabbed the phone book and started calling other places who might want our money.
I found an exterminator right away, and he showed up at 2:00. The first thing he did was confirm the infestation, adn then set to work getting his spray gear ready.
I bundled the kids and cats together and herded them downstairs to the landlord’s apartment. I had to keep them out of the apartment for four hours while the spray dried into a harmless (to us) powder. I was reassured that we wouldn’t have to move out of the apartment or any of the bedrooms for 21 days. Phew!
An hour later, the exterminator knocked on the door and told us the good news – he had only found 3 adult male bedbugs – no females, eggs or larvae. Everything was sprayed, bedsheets were sprayed and bagged, and we just had to wait out the four hours.
So, we watched TV downstairs, and then went out for dinner – which the kids enjoyed, but were a little too tired to enjoy quietly – and then went home. From that point, the washing machine and dryer didn’t stop while we got the beds made. Our landlord brought up a pair of plastic mattress bags to cover the mattress and boxspring, keeping future visitors outside, where they belonged! Dina washed all of the toys that were on the floor, and I started dusting the furniture.
The only thing we have to do is leave the bug powder along the edges of the walls for three weeks. Bedbugs love hiding in those places.
All things considered, we got off quite lightly, but I’m disappointed that we’ve lost a day of our vacation…and that the remaining days will be too filled with laundry to be truly relaxing. Ugh!
Open Question: Summer Sports
Now that the Summer Olympics are over, here’s the Open Question for August:
“What are your favourite summer sports? Do you play softball with the company, volleyball at the beach, or chase around the kids on a bicycle? Are the sports you play now different from the sports you played as a kid?”
Leave your answers or links in the comments below. I’ll post my answers tomorrow.
My Stories!
The summer season is winding down, and my anticipation for the upcoming TV season is rising.
Basically, it’s last year all over again, as I want to hop on board the shows that were so rudely interrupted by the writer’s strike: Sarah Connor Chronicles, Chuck, Heroes, Pushing Daisies, Amazing Race, Battlestar Galactica and, since it was a strong finisher, The Border.
I can’t think of a single new series, other than Fringe, and that leaves me cold. I’ll skip it.
The announced midseason replacements look interesting. Dollhouse is worth a look on the strength of Joss Whedon’s reputation alone, but the highlight is the return of Cupid! That’s right, Rob Thomas’ first show, the cult classic starring Jeremy Piven and Paula Marshall, will return to the airwaves with a new cast. Sarah Paulson, one of the highlights of Studio 60, will play the psychiatrist…should be fun!
It’s Been a Year…
…since I learned that Quantum Cards closed its doors, and I’m still bummed. I drive past the storefront every weekday on the way to the kids’ daycare, and the space hasn’t been rented, or even cleaned. I can still see the the very first promotional poster for Kobold Quarterly on the bulletin board.
Aside from a couple of calls and trips to see Jill and Kathy, the bulk of my games buying has been online. eBay and Amazon are the first stops, but I’ll also buy directly from the publisher as a vote of confidence. I’m pretty keen on supporting Paizo’s experiment with updating and maintaining the 3.5 edition ruleset through a year-long public playtest, so I bought the softcover Pathfinder RPG Beta directly from them. (I felt no such sense of loyalty or support for Wizards of the Coast when I snapped up the three-volume core rules slipcase set for 4e at a ridiculously deep discount from Amazon).
Saving money is all well and good, but hanging out was better.
The NDA forbids me from being specific…
…but sometimes my job makes me laugh heartily – in a good way!