I received an email via the Acorn Garden website inquiring about Kickin' Wiccan, the pagan jewelry shop I set up through Shapeways. Even though I was no longer marketing my items through Etsy, I still received occasional orders through the Shapeways shop page. The reason why the prospective buyer contacted me through my Wicca page is that…
In my previous post on creating the Bard instrumental ensembles in Baldur's Gate 3, I had a misleading statement: It’s almost impossible to get all six instruments to play at once within the main game. [...] In the main adventure, even if you have all four of your party members with the Musical Instrument skill, you’d need…
CW: There are videos in this post that include rapid movement in a video game. If you have vertigo or a similar reaction to visual media, the videos may be disorienting. Since this essay is about the audio, you can close your eyes or look away while the videos play and still understand what's going on. TL;DR:…
The following essay repeats material that I originally posted on Facebook. For years, I subscribed on-line to both the New York Times and the Washington Post. I rarely read any given article past the headlines, but I thought it was important to support high-quality journalism. I looked on it as an act of charity, the way I…
TL;DR: If your game controller isn't working, it's not your fault. My apologies if you clicked on this post expecting to see a political discussion. It's difficult to talk about the real topic of this essay without using the word "left". The actual topic? Joystick drift on a PS5 controller. A trivial topic, to be sure. There…
It looks like the murder mystery party I'd planned for Dec 7, 2024, is not going to happen. That's the TL;DR version. The rest of this post goes over the details, if you're interested. I'm not sad Let's get this out of the way: I'm not actually disappointed by this. A murder-mystery party is fun, and I…
qaStaHvIS wa'SaD loSvatlh jaj tlhIngan Hol vIHaDtaH = I have been studying Klingon for fourteen hundred days. I don't have anything new to add to my earlier essays on using Duolingo to learn Klingon. Frankly, I've grown weary of the daily practice. I see the same phrases over and over again. I don't feel like I'm learning…
Did you think that title means that I'm finally easing up on playing BG3? Sorry, no. I mean that I'm taking it easy on you. I know my blog is read by perhaps a dozen people. When a couple of them make the same observation, it means a lot. That observation is that the last couple of…
I know it's only been a week since I sent out my last post on this party, to be held on Saturday Dec 7. Normally I'd wait a couple more weeks before asking folks for information. However, circumstances are different this time around. I have to make arrangements for the venue now. Believe it or not, it…
I hosted a Murder Mystery Masquerade for my 60th birthday. It's been five years. A couple of friends suggested that I don't wait until I'm 70 before doing a mystery party again. The date will be Saturday, December 7, 2024. Save the date! The place: I could use some suggestions for the venue. I think we'll only…