Won a MtG draft

 

Draft pool from an actual IRL at PAX West recently. No one was in white so I got good early and then got fliers. Went 3-0 at 2-0 three times and won.

Just get it done

 tis the season

 got it done yesterday

Congrats to Puget Sound Collective

When someone you know and are happy for does something cool, let the world know.

Congrats to new label Puget Sound Collective on the release of their first limited edition of 100 cassette for Voyager - and in selling out of said release in under two weeks.

Cool stuff.

New Suit

 

New from Ruby Suits, now I just need a place to wear it.

Painting process and future

 My process has evolved the past few years to take plain cloth, primer it, then paint it.  These are for future RPG tabletop maps and grids.

Prepping fabric with primer.

Paint them into playable game settings.

Perhaps commissions and sales to follow.

Sensory Overload

 I work huge conventions.

The mosh pit and front of the stage at metal shows many times have I waded in.

Working with lots of kids is never a claustrophobic feeling.

During the past year and a half I worked PT in a grocery store so I was often around people.

But, but on campus for a full day, Monday through Friday, with a commute, was sensory overload.  

This is going to take a while to get back to.

It's hot here

 It's hot here.

Not any hotter than many places often get to, but really effing hot for this region.

And our civilization crumbles very quickly when this happens for more than one day around here.

Sort of like when it gets frozen for more than a day and our transportation becomes terrible.

This is an amazing region to live in, but we only really function well in a 40 degree window of 38F to 78F and that really is a 25 degree window of 43F to 68F.

When it goes out of range, we cannot deal.

The cold is bad here because everything is a slope and a hill and graded so a little ice is really bad.

The heat here is bad because we do not have fans and air conditioners, and by the time we think to get them we just plan for it for the next time and don't actually get those things before the next summer or two down then road when it happens again.

Temperate climates rock, changes to that making these things happen more often suck.

Distance media work 2021 edition

 

Coverage continues at 

prostamerika.com

goalkeeperguys.net

@goalieguys

Even when not there in person all the time.

Mushkin

 I will always miss you.  Mushkin. Rest in peace, tiny one.

Pop for the business

 

I was a target

It was a lovely weekend morning. We went to the beach down the hill for some breakfast.

 For the first time in my life, I truly felt targeted by a bird.

Splat, missing my elbow by a whole lot of not much.  

The crows wanted the crumbs and scraps, or the entire thing, and we were not sharing fast enough.

The crow that targeted me flew right up onto a branch overhead and shot at me while I was finishing.  It was only possibly intentional.

Effing crows.

IRL after a while

It has been a challenge to stay home and be safe and smart in the sense of just how much out in the world we typically do. I will not regret being safe and smart and getting to the point where the bubble has doses, and we are there.  For us, that means, with still some limits, being a bit out in the world again. 

And that meant getting to volunteer for a few hours today, busting ass working to clean up and revive a green belt in town.  

The reward, a food truck lunch at a truck we love to go to in the old stomping grounds.

To be able to do this; outdoors yes, and with smart restrictions yes, was still an emotional and positive boost.

We are live for sale and all rewards shipped

This is the update to backers I sent out re The DM Favor Kickstarter this evening. 

All physical rewards shipped and were dropped off on Thursday and Friday.  I have already started hearing that they are in mail boxes.  All US domestic backers should have a USPS tracking code in their messages on this site. 
Canada, UK, and Australia backers.  The rewards all shipped away to you all on Thursday.  Once they leave us US the tracking changes, but look for them soon.  I was happy to fill out those customs forms.
Today is late Saturday and the cards are now for sale online print on demand at The Game Crafter.  The Game Crafter has done a great job with this and the 52 Geek Pickup project.  They are great to work with.
https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/the-dm-favor
There are a few sessions of games that we are coordinating to schedule in these times, but it looks like that is all sorting out. From a Kickstarter rewards standpoint, that is all there is left to do.  
In the end, the point of a campaign was to get some printed, get it for sale, and get it going.  We did that.
I hope these cards add magical moments to your stories and campaigns.

Finally 40

 

Realized I was close so I cracked an egg when I got a remote raid request.  Then I cracked an incense and just started catching them all.  Evolved a Wurmple and it kicked over to 40.

The DM Favor Kickstarter was a success

 As I planned this campaign, the notion of setting a higher goal first or the actual minimum needed with a stretch goal was a real issue for me.

In some ways, setting the bar higher can bring in more money, as people see the number go up and get closer, maybe there are more who toss in 10 or 25 dollars that do not because it has funded lower and is a stretch goal and not really needed.

I am glad I chose the real goal and stretch goal, even not hitting the stretch goal.  

The cards are set to be printed soon, rewards will be sent out on time.  Life is good.

Under. Ten. Hours.

Kickstarter Link 

Was all set to start obsessing on the Kickstarter for The DM Favor (TM) cards.

I went with the lower initial goal, thinking the two grand goal was better served as a stretch goal.

And ... 

It hit the minimum funding goal in under ten hours.  Three people used the higher tier and pushed it over when I really thought the ten buck one would be what was the main choice.

Time to get the stretch goal ready then, since I have all the extra time.

Once you POP

Pop me.

 

Order error?

 What if this is what the emperor meant and the clones got it wrong and then he just sort of went with it and the universe far far away was overthrown on accident?

Baby, I was born to meme

Had to get in on this. 

A quick sketch and then onto some prepped fabric.

With some ink to set the image.

Black ink to set it permanent.

With some tones (and maybe some future additional colors).

Palindrome week

 

Since this is very much palindrome week.  

This is the screen cap I sent with a message at 21:21 on the 21st day of the 21st year of the 21st century.

Ten days of palindrome dates.

11 years to the day later I finally top that meal

 On January 17, 2010 I blogged about the cheese souffle I decided to challenge myself with.

When I made the braised lamb with finger potatoes and some caramelized onions today I was like, finally I have bested myself.  When I looked up the blog post, it was the date that caught me. It took 11 years and apparently I cook best on January 17.

2021 and forward

For 2021.

Kickstarter for The DM Favor launching soon.  Moving forward with Well Dressed Gandalf.

Looking at new and different - and some of the old ways as they come back - ways to make a living.

Also, a Kickstarter for the soccer fandom book could launch this year if all goes well.

I missed only three things; people, places, and (doing) things last year.  Hopefully, a shot in the arm and the world getting back will make for a chance at some sort of recovery on all of the fronts.

I remain lucky at the start of the year that I am able to do anything and know who I know.

Be well.

Reading List 2020

The annual reading list of novels, shorts, non-fiction, graphic novels, the odd poem here and there, and a few other things like some kids books of note. I generally don't list re-reads, or even often re-read that much, but a couple of books I haven't read in decades made the list with a new heading.

Gaming 

Unearthed Arcana by Gary Gygax
The Art of Magic: The Gathering - Ravnica by James Wyatt

Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide

Dark Matter: 5th Edition Supplement by Mage Hand Press
Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game

Fiend Folio: Tome of Creatures Malevolent and Benign

Explorer's Guide to Wildemount by Matthew Mercer & Wizards RPG Team

The Monsters Know What They're Doing: Combat Tactics For Dungeon Masters by Keith Ammann

Mastering Magic Cards by George H. Baxter & Larry W. Smith, Ph.D.

Gurps Lite

Wedny's Presents: Feast of Legends: Rise From The Deep Freeze

Tasha's Cauldron of Everything 

The Lazy DM's Workbook by Michael E. Shea

---

Poetry

A Dispatch From Seattle: or, Nervous in the Hot Zone by Sherman Alexie

Sublingual by Kiri Callaghan

Boogie Took The Cash by Jeff Eisenbrey

---

Collections

A Very Scalzi Christmas by John Scalzi

Blackened White by Brian W. Foster

---

Fiction

War of the Spark: Forsaken by Greg Weisman
The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

The Age of Anxiety by Pete Townsend

The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski
Gideon The Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

Highfire by Eoin Colfer

Warp by Lev Grossman

Otaku by Chris Kluwe

Sword of Destiny by Andrzej Sapkowski
A Man by Keiichiro Hirano (translated by Eli K.P. William)

The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives in Your Home: Welcome to Night Vale, Book 3 

by Joseph Fink & Jeffrey Cranor 

Season of Storms by Andrzej Sapkowski

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing: A Novel (The Carls) by Hank Green

The Last Emperox: The Interdependency Book 3 by John Scalzi

Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey

Tube by Ksenia Anske

Blood of Elves by Andrzej Sapkowski
The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehesi Coates

Time of Contempt by Andrzej Sapkowski

Baptism of Fire by Andrzej Sapkowski

Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

The Birdwoman's Palate by Laksmi Pamuntjak

The Tower of Swallows by Andrzej Sapkowski

The Lady of the Lake by Andrzej Sapkowski

Hell's Spells by Devon Monk 

Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline

Star Wars: Thrawn by Timothy Zahn

Wayward Souls: Souls of the Road by Devon Monk

---

Short Fiction

Dues and Don'ts: An Ordinary Magic Story by Devon Monk

The Long Siege: Part Three of Avery Cates: The Burning City by Jeff Somers

Little Flame by Devon Monk

Ikoria: Lair of the Behemoths - Sundered Bond by Django Wexler

Naked,Stoned,and Stabbed: A Wild Cards Story by Bradley Denton

Grace by Lisa Taddeo

Terranaut: Explorer by Blaze Ward
Called to the Warrior Path by Philip G. Lewis

The Dark Hunt: Part Four of Avery Cates: The Burning City by Jeff Somers

Evacuation by Alan Dean Foster

Der Katzenprinz by Liam O'Brien

A Poor Choice by Phil Lewis

---

Non-Fiction

Beautifully Unique Sparkleponies: On Myths, Morons, Free Speech, Football, and Assorted Absurdities by Chris Kluwe

Aeternum Cascadia!: The NASL and MLS Soccer Rivalry Among the Pacific Northwest Franchises: Seasons 1968 to Present by Greg Harlan

White Fragility: Why It's So Hard For White People To Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo

One Life by Megan Rapinoe

The World of Critical Role: The History Behind the Epic Fantasy by Liz Marsham

---

Graphic Novels/TPB

The Magicians: Alice's Story by Lev Grossman, Lilah Sturges, & Pius Bak

Starslayer: The Director's Cut by Mike Grell

Vagrant Queen (Vol 1) by Magdalene Visaggio  & Jason Smith

American Jesus (Volume 1): Chosen by Mark Millar & Peter Gross

American Jesus (Volume 2): The New Messiah by Mark Millar & Peter Grose

Donut The Destroyer by Sarah Graley & Stef Purenins 

The Flintstones Vol. 1 by Mark Russell & Steve Pugh

The Flintstones Vol. 2: Bedrock Bedlam by Mark Russell & Steve Pugh

Code Monkey Save World by Greg Pak et al 

Punch! by Allan Amato et al

---

Papers/Essays/Children's Books/Misc

Orbit and Attitude Performance of the Lightsail 2 Solar Sail Spacecraft by Mansell, Spencer, et al

Piggy and Pug by Anne Wheaton

Kat and Juju by Kataneh Vahdani

Rosie the Dragon and Charlie Say Good Night by Lauren H. Kerstein & Nate Wragg (Ill.)

---

Re-reads

Splinter of the Mind's Eye by Alan Dean Foster 

Midworld by Alan Dean Foster

Ephemera 2020

The annual Ephemera posting of stuff for me to remember what I have done.  I actually have referred to these lists for a variety of reasons and it's my blog so I do this.

2020 was a year. There would have been a number other things on this list, but so much got cancelled and rescheduled that this list is very different than it should have been. That means playing in the GP in Seattle or displaying my game at a show in PDX or working various cons didn't happen.  A lot of movies in the theatre didn't screen. Soccer media covering the Reign and WoSo and regional things more or less vanished in the Spring. Tickets for shows were refunded or the shows rescheduled for whenever later. Trips just didn't get booked. The decisions to work TX and CHI shows early in the year meant I did do at least some things, but the C2E2 vibe included a lot of worry over the pandemic beginning. I oddly spent 4 hours in LA on layover that I am fondly remembering for finding a friend in the terminal we hung out with.

We did do some fun virtual things like "Zombie Cheerleaders From Hell" through The Can Can Culinary Cabaret's Theatre at Home.

I had pre-noted a number of items and slowly was changing them to different dates and / or deleting them. Plus, I really was not gonna be a first wave of go and do stuff pawn. Pawns go first for a reason.

Actually happened:

Conventions

PAX South 1/17-19 ([E]) {3}
C2E2 2/28-3/1 (Starlight Division) {3}

Soccer Media (ProstAmerika/GoalieGuys)

* Remote coverage of events and matches (mostly, until October)

Press work done remote, conference calls, and Zoom. From quarantine to May NWSL Challenge Cup announcement, through the tourney, there was a time of ongoing virtual media work with coaches, players, owners, and the commissioner. I covered a few matches as though they were local.  Got a chance to write a few other pieces like covering the Rave Green boys a few matches. This year would have included the second Reign season in Tacoma, some CLink rave green matches, and a few local scene matches for clubs like the Everett Jets. All Prost articles were also posted on the Goalie Guys site, as I worked to make that more of a habit.  I did short Reign pieces during the tourney even when not assigned to be thorough and so the GG site would have a complete picture of the season. The GG site got all of the Prost pieces without the NWSL provided pics. Was attempting to do even more and UEFA is as elitist and as much of a dinosaur as one would imagine and doesn't work with modern online media in the way US teams and leagues and the federation does. Also, got an advance copy of Pinoe's book to review, which was cool. Guested on the ROTV podcast about Pinoe's book. 

Sounders playoff coverage was in person. There were really strict rules, and that was comforting enough for me to take the assignment. But, having to decline the credential IRL for Columbus was really a harsh reminder of the year.

Live 

OLR 1 v PTFC 2 / 10-10 Tacoma, WA - Cheney Stadium - NWSL Fall Series

OLR 2 v UTAH 0 / 10-17 Tacoma, WA - Cheney Stadium - NWSL Fall Series

SSFC 3 v LAFC 1 / 11-24 Seattle, WA - Lumen Field - MLS Cup Playoffs R1

SSFC 1 v FCD 0 / 12-01 Seattle, WA - Lumen Field - MLS Cup Playoffs WCS

SSFC 3 v MNU 2 / 12-07 Seattle, WA - Lumen Field - MLS Cup Playoffs WCF

vs PTFC

vs UTAH

vs LAFC

vs FCD

vs MNUFC

Actual in person media coverage in October - December

Movies (in the Theatre)

Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)

Virtual Work (Conventions & Events)

Geoteaming

ZogCulture

Virtual Crunchyroll Expo (ReedPop/Starlight)

PAX Online [E]

Live & Stuff
Seattle Saberfit
Blade & Timber 2-8
MoPop (membership)

Bob's Corn Maze 10-14

Trips
San Antonio (plane SEA-LAX-SAT 1-16/plane SAT-SEA 1-22)
Chicago (plane SEA-CHI rt 2/27-3/1)

PAX South Bandland

Feb 8 axe throwing

C2E2

Not many movies in theatre

Soccer media 2020 version of the press box

Virtual event work from home

Bob's Corn Maze 10-14

-------

I also launched the website and D&D business WellDressedGandalf.com 

Storming on the solstice

 

It was storming today on the solstice. 

We stood on the beach.

High tide.

The storm was crossing the Sound.

The nearby island faded.

The peninsula and mountains across the water were long vanished.

The train tracks down the way became shrouded.

The rain and wind picked up.

Foam and waved crashed over my feet.

It was glorious.

Jedi Viking cosplay coming together

 

Because Living Here is Beautiful

 The other day down the hill at the beach. 

Time is flying

 It was actually over a year since I had stepped foot in what is now Lumen Field.

The stadium was at over 69K for the MLS Cup Final.

So, last night when I stepped in and watched an empty stadium MLS Playoffs match, it was such a stark reminder of how much has gone on, and for how long.

Book review

 Received an advance copy and reviewed it for the Goalie Guys.

http://www.goalkeeperguys.net/2020/11/10/one-life-by-megan-rapinoe-book-review/ 

Also, this ...

guested on a podcast

https://www.sounderatheart.com/2020/11/11/21559824/megan-rapinoe-memoir-one-life-review

Let's see how long this lasts

 So, two weeks ago I went to Tacoma for a thing at a stadium.  I took over the Poke Go Gym.  Dropped off a Pokemon.  

The stadium is now closed.   The HS next door is on remote learning.  There is a gate to the parking lot.  You cannot reach it from the street. 

We are at two weeks of that Pokemon guarding that one gym alone.  Considering taking bets on how long til anyone goes there and takes it out.