For my gamer friends: While falling down an internet rabbit hole, I found this article on a history of wargaming. I recommend reading it, if only to learn about the rise-and-fall of an important segment of gaming. The article was written by Greg Costikyan in 1996. I knew Greg briefly in the late 70s or early 80s.…
June 19th is Adaption Day in my household. It's the anniversary of the date when I bought two little kittens, Jiku and Shuba, into my home. I celebrated last year with a post with cute cat pictures. I see no reason not to repeat the custom this year. Jiku and Shuba wish you a happy Adoption Day!
This is a collection of photos from when I unboxed my copy of the Great Wall board game by Awaken Realms. This post is not a game review; I haven't played it yet and I don't usually review board games on this blog. I just wanted to share some pictures for those who might be interested in…
tlhIngan Hol vIHaDtaH qaStaHvIS Hutvatlh jaj = I have studied the Klingon language for nine hundred days. This is a follow-up to my 800 Days of Klingon and my Two years of Klingon lessons essays. I still have the impression that the older, deleted form of Duolingo's Klingon course was superior. As I predicted, I've hit some…
Roughly in 1994, I wrote a computer program to compute the dates of the Full Moon. I originally did this to help schedule Wicca meetings; we like to meet on the Full Moon. I put the tables on the web because, in the mid-1990s, this kind of astronomical information was not readily available to members of the…
Well, I got a bit closer this time. I unpacked all the seder gear that had been sitting in my closet since last year (and before that had been sitting there since 2003). I actually set up the seder table (which was my gaming table, of course): I won't go into the details as I did last…
Every once in a while, I wonder if I'm overreacting to the whole "potential for long COVID" thing by continuing my strong isolation. My primary-care physician definitely thinks I am. Then I see this: I watched Physics Girl on YouTube. Even though I'm a physicist, Dianna Cowern often asked questions that challenged me. I usually learned something…
This is a description of a game topper from GameToppersLLC. It's not meant as a review per se, but a tale of my experience. TL;DR: The Watson Game Topper is a great product, but I wish I'd spent more time thinking about its physical properties: size, weight, etc. Tables and toppers I'll start by stating the obvious:…
I'm clearing out a closet. It was filled with all sorts of old camping gear. The most recent is about ten years old. I have some distant dream of attending Free Spirit Gathering again. But it's been years, I don't know how long it will be before pandemic safety issues don't dominate my lifestyle, and I need…
I dreamed about the NY Ren Faire again last night. To be sure, this wasn't the first time. I've dreamt about Faire periodically in the years since I left it. What's interesting to me is that my "mental map" of the Ren Faire in my dreams has slowly changed over the years. The layout changes: a new…