It's just possible that the first word my daughter ever read on her own was dragon.

She's been asking spellings of words for weeks now, but she hasn't,t started reading them per we.

Today I heard her saying "dragon" over and over very slowly. When I went to investigate, she was running her finger over the word on the cover of one of my D&D books.

My Favorite 28 Songs

I don't post any more do I?

My Favorite 28 Songs:


All Along the Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix
All Through the Night - Cyndi Lauper
Bachelorette - Bjork
Budos Theme - Budos Band
California Dreamin' - The Mammas and the Pappas
Chicago - Sufjan Stevens
The Dark of the Matinee - Franz Ferdinand
Flagpole Sitta - Harvey Danger
The Happiest Days of my Life - My Favorite
Here Comes your Man - The Pixies
Highwya 61 Revisted - Bob Dylan
Hold on, Hold on - Neko Case
House of the Rising Sun - The Animals
I Drove All Night - Cyndi Lauper
Jaan Pehechaan Ho - Mohammed Rafi
Little Round Mirrors - Harvey Danger
New Year's Eve - Dengue Fever
Ode to my Family - The Cranberries
Purple Toupee - They Might be Giants
Spybreakd! - The Propellerheads
Such Great Heights - The Postal Service
Walkin' on the Sun - Smashmouth
Where do I Begin - The Chemical Brothers
Whisper to a Scream - Icicle Works
White Room - Cream
Wild Horses - The Sundays
Wish you were Here - Pink Floyd
3 Girls Walking - Mistle Thrush

I never get tired of those songs.

Go Play NW 2008, May 31 - June 1

Go Play NW 2008 pre-registration is almost done!

Go Play NW 2008 is our home-grown role-playing game convention. This year it's going to be held at the Watertown Hotel in Seattle's University District, May 31 - June 1. You can find out more and register at the Wiki.

Last year we used an ad-hoc game sign up system where people simply showed up, offered games, found players, and played. This year we're going to try having a bit more structure, with a mix of pre-scehduled games you can sign up for and ad-hoc gaming on site.

Bing Bang Boing

When I was a kid, my brother and I would scour garage sales for awesome-crappy games to play. One of th games we found was probably an add on for this early 70's "expandable action game", Bing Bang Boing:

Link courtesy of Boing Boing

My family in LEGO

This is the family in LEGO:


My wife made this picture using the Mini-Mizer and Microsoft Publisher. I overheard my daughter say, "Can I have a lightsaber in my hand?"

My wife replied, "No, I want you to wait until you're a little older. Lightsabers are dangerous." So, my daughter is holding green chalk in one hand and a volleyball in the other.

The Three Waves of William Gibson

I finished Spook Country, but I never did a follow up post. A friend of mine said she thinks that William Gibson only has two books to write. That kind of stuck in my head. It might be true. Yet there is something to be learned in the three waves of William Gibson.

First I confess that this wonderful theory is partially cribbed from a friend who excells in the creation of startling literary theories.

There are three waves of William Gibson. In the first wave, he wrote of a dystopian fantastical future where losers alienated from the world and themselves by technology find a way to fight back and come to terms with what they've become. It's set solidly in the 1960's sci-fi aesthetic where technology is potentially monstrous and certainly not to be trusted.

In the second wave, technology is fun and inspires something akin to awe. We call this the "Microsoft wave". It's where we forget that technology can't be trusted.

In the third wave, we return to the dystopian world, but we retain our sense of awe at technology. The world is our present day.

Now that I've written it out, I'm not as satisfied by this theory as I was.

So in conclusion, Spook Country is very good; quite possibly Gibson's best yet. It approaches not only technology, but our current social political situation with a mix of suspicion and awe at this amazing thing that apparently we've made, but do not fully understand.

Independent Insurgency Podcast

I get wicked kudos on the Independent Insurgency podcast from Vincent Baker. When I finally meet Vincnet Baker in person, I'm going to make it my mission to tie him down and force him to take at least some of the credit for the game that he designed and published. :)