Good evening, my friend.
Remember when I said about a week ago that I wouldn't be browsing Kickstarter anymore? That worked really well for me until I happened upon one that looked oh, so pretty.
It's looks that get my every time, I swear! I scrolled through the new projects in Kickstarter for fun the other day, feeling accomplished after my most recent project Unspeakable Words was backed successfully. With pride, I looked about at the other board games on the table. One of the thumbnails blew me away as soon as I saw it. Be careful, I said to myself. Pretty art doesn't make a successful project.
But then I looked at some of the project details. Entropy is a card game about different characters who's worlds have collided into a nexus point, and the characters have to find all of the pieces to their home to return there. The first one home is the winner. Simple enough, I thought. Now, to look at the art. It floored me. I spent several minutes just admiring the color schemes and the thematic concepts behind this game.
No, I told myself. Don't back it - you just backed two other pointless projects. Do you enjoy the way this game plays, or do you just want it for the art? Did it matter? That was my second voice - you know the demon on the other shoulder. So what if I hadn't seen a game play video and just wanted the art. The art in itself was valuable enough to own at their asking price. And I would get a cool metal token for backing the project!
That evil devil on the other shoulder. Why am I always listening to him? I told myself I'd at least let a day pass - give me time to rest and think on it. Watching a video on how the game played might also help. But no, I couldn't last four hours and I'd already backed it.
Buyer's remorse? Not yet, at least. It looks like a beautiful game - one I'll definitely sleeve. I'm not worried about getting the cards - the project creators have done a project before and people got their product then. It'll be the months of waiting for it to go into production; finalizing rules and art, sending it to the printer, fulfilling orders, sending it all the way from Australia to my little hamlet in Michigan. Those months I might be remorseful. Who knows though.
Do they make a 12 step program for Kickstarter backing?
Sunday, February 22, 2015
Sunday, February 15, 2015
One Day He Dreamed of A Ship in the World
Hello friend of mine.
So... it's February and I still haven't told you about the events of January. New things keep stacking up - I suppose it makes for an interesting life. I always seem to get behind. Forgive me for that. I do have something rather exciting to share with you, however: my impromptu trip to New York City (part 1)!
My good friend Jewel (I talked about her in an old blog entry) decided to text me mid January out of the blue.
"Looking for someone to go to New York with me overnight next week, interested?"
That fateful text.
"I'm very interested," I responded enthusiastically. Now we just had to plan around my preset work schedule.
Come to find out, Sting had written a musical (I know, right?) called The Last Ship. I knew next to nothing about it, but Jewel loved the idea of seeing it on Broadway. She'd seen a clip of it on The Today Show To give some perspective: I've always been a theater person. I've done many productions in school and out, doing everything from acting to technical work to directing. My dream career used to be working on the Broadway stage. That passion runs deep to me.
Funny thing, though - I've never been to NYC, not to mention Broadway. When this chance appeared, I jumped on it. We looked into flight and as it turns out flying can be expensive booking three days before you leave. No go on that front. How about a drive? We'd worked out that we could leave on a Saturday night and come back by Monday morning - when I had to work at 7 AM. Could we manage the drive in that slot of time? It was a 10 hour drive nonstop.
For some unknown reason we decided to make the trip. We started to make secondary plans - should we leave earlier Saturday? Who would get the rental car? Matinee on Sunday? How is the weather looking?
Meanwhile I'd made plans to play board games with a friend of mine early Saturday morning. I did some quick mental math. 7 AM Saturday to 11 Monday night = very tiring weekend.
Was this a good idea? Was this the most reckless thing I'd ever done? Yes. I'll never forget it.
So... it's February and I still haven't told you about the events of January. New things keep stacking up - I suppose it makes for an interesting life. I always seem to get behind. Forgive me for that. I do have something rather exciting to share with you, however: my impromptu trip to New York City (part 1)!
My good friend Jewel (I talked about her in an old blog entry) decided to text me mid January out of the blue.
"Looking for someone to go to New York with me overnight next week, interested?"
That fateful text.
"I'm very interested," I responded enthusiastically. Now we just had to plan around my preset work schedule.
Come to find out, Sting had written a musical (I know, right?) called The Last Ship. I knew next to nothing about it, but Jewel loved the idea of seeing it on Broadway. She'd seen a clip of it on The Today Show To give some perspective: I've always been a theater person. I've done many productions in school and out, doing everything from acting to technical work to directing. My dream career used to be working on the Broadway stage. That passion runs deep to me.
Funny thing, though - I've never been to NYC, not to mention Broadway. When this chance appeared, I jumped on it. We looked into flight and as it turns out flying can be expensive booking three days before you leave. No go on that front. How about a drive? We'd worked out that we could leave on a Saturday night and come back by Monday morning - when I had to work at 7 AM. Could we manage the drive in that slot of time? It was a 10 hour drive nonstop.
For some unknown reason we decided to make the trip. We started to make secondary plans - should we leave earlier Saturday? Who would get the rental car? Matinee on Sunday? How is the weather looking?
Meanwhile I'd made plans to play board games with a friend of mine early Saturday morning. I did some quick mental math. 7 AM Saturday to 11 Monday night = very tiring weekend.
Was this a good idea? Was this the most reckless thing I'd ever done? Yes. I'll never forget it.
Monday, February 9, 2015
I Have to be there Before Daybreak
Good morning, friend.
So I have a rather unhealthy relationship with sites like Ebay, Coolstuffinc, and Kickstarter. There are so many awesome things to find online, and I simply have to have them all. For instance:
I decided to back Unspeakable Words on Kickstarter. I've always wanted this game, and it's been out of print for over a year. 'Simple enough, I'll get this one thing and show some restraint,' I think to myself. Then it hits me: the kicker. 'Why don't I just look around a bit and see what else is on kickstarter at the moment,' I let my mind wander. Bad decision.
If you don't know, Kickstarter is a crowd funding web site where creators can post projects and get average Joes to fund them. This eliminates corporate greed (in theory) and gets money directly to the creators, while also allowing the Joes to get a great project in the end. People kickstart many things from music albums to live concerts. It's really quite fascinating. I have a weakness for board game kickstarters.
So there I am, looking through the kickstarters coming up, and I notice some striking art. 'Arcana Playing Cards?' I ask myself. 'I'll have to check this one out,' I think innocently as I open up the project, completely not intending to get sucked into another project, particularly one involving playing cards. I have several decks, I don't need a fancy one.
I was not prepared for the beauty that awaited me. This project, Arcana Playing Cards, floored me with it's beauty. Then I saw that there were two versions of the deck you could buy - a light themed one and a dark themed one. What really made this deck unique to me was its integration with the old Tarot decks, and the resulting art. Guess what? As an add-on you can buy the cards that will even out the 58 playing cards to the 78 Tarot card deck. But wait, there's more! You can also get beautifully crafted boxes to put them in, wood protective boxes with a metal stamp on it, specially minted coins to match the art, etc, etc, etc.
Well, I wasn't planning on spending so much on a deck of cards. It's just so beautiful. As of this post, the playing cards still have a day left to kickstart - feel free to go over there and back their project. The guy does great art, and it's wonderful to see someone so passionate about their creative endeavors. A piece of advice before you go:
Just look at the one project on kickstarter. It's a terrible downward spiral.
So I have a rather unhealthy relationship with sites like Ebay, Coolstuffinc, and Kickstarter. There are so many awesome things to find online, and I simply have to have them all. For instance:
I decided to back Unspeakable Words on Kickstarter. I've always wanted this game, and it's been out of print for over a year. 'Simple enough, I'll get this one thing and show some restraint,' I think to myself. Then it hits me: the kicker. 'Why don't I just look around a bit and see what else is on kickstarter at the moment,' I let my mind wander. Bad decision.
If you don't know, Kickstarter is a crowd funding web site where creators can post projects and get average Joes to fund them. This eliminates corporate greed (in theory) and gets money directly to the creators, while also allowing the Joes to get a great project in the end. People kickstart many things from music albums to live concerts. It's really quite fascinating. I have a weakness for board game kickstarters.
So there I am, looking through the kickstarters coming up, and I notice some striking art. 'Arcana Playing Cards?' I ask myself. 'I'll have to check this one out,' I think innocently as I open up the project, completely not intending to get sucked into another project, particularly one involving playing cards. I have several decks, I don't need a fancy one.
I was not prepared for the beauty that awaited me. This project, Arcana Playing Cards, floored me with it's beauty. Then I saw that there were two versions of the deck you could buy - a light themed one and a dark themed one. What really made this deck unique to me was its integration with the old Tarot decks, and the resulting art. Guess what? As an add-on you can buy the cards that will even out the 58 playing cards to the 78 Tarot card deck. But wait, there's more! You can also get beautifully crafted boxes to put them in, wood protective boxes with a metal stamp on it, specially minted coins to match the art, etc, etc, etc.
Well, I wasn't planning on spending so much on a deck of cards. It's just so beautiful. As of this post, the playing cards still have a day left to kickstart - feel free to go over there and back their project. The guy does great art, and it's wonderful to see someone so passionate about their creative endeavors. A piece of advice before you go:
Just look at the one project on kickstarter. It's a terrible downward spiral.
Tuesday, February 3, 2015
Doo Be Dah
Hey there friend. Sorry that it's taken me so long to get back to this. Between podcasting, work, and several other adventures I'll write you about, it's been a busy month of January.
Work continues to go well for me, though it has gotten busier and more hectic with the passing of the days. A new position has brought increased responsibility and stress levels, but I've been trying to handle it well. A coworker and I have been reading a book called The Energy Bus, and discussing it when we can. I've really enjoyed what I've read so far, and most of all the basic principle of the book: you are the driver of your own bus. I'm in charge of my life. Yes, things may happen that are out of my control, but I have the opportunity and power to respond in a positive way.
This has really helped me deal with the hardships this winter, and turn them around to my advantage. It has also helped me take more ownership over my life. So often I make excuses about this or that - the things that weigh me down. All of the sudden dishes have piled up in the sink, the floors need to be vacuumed, and laundry has piled up and become unmanageable. Reading this book and following some of the basic principles has helped me end that destructive cycle and take ownership over the excess tasks in my life that I find so tedious.
I've been really stepping up my coffee game, trying to work on my latte art skills - I have a few photos to share with you over the next few days that demonstrate this. I hope to be able to get a good coffee grinder in the next few weeks to further up my game. My mom got me several other useful tools like a bottomless portafilter that have been helping me adjust my skills. I can notice the quality of the end product improve.
I recently got an expansion to Eldritch horror called The Mountains of Madness - I haven't gotten an opportunity to try it yet, but I'm really looking forward to it. I should be able to break it out tomorrow after I get a few tasks done. Another board game I love, Elder Sign, also has an expansion that should be coming out soon - I'm really looking forward to picking that up and trying it. Hopefully it'll integrate a bit easier than the Mountains of Madness expansion. I have a hard enough time beating Eldritch Horror I'm not sure how I'll do.
My sister got me a small expansion to another board game, Arkham Horror, which takes the number of expansions I have for that game up to 5. Only 3 more to go and my collection will be complete! My first playthrough with that expansion was also very exciting and memorable. From the first turn, the game had it in for me. If you enjoy Arkham Horror, I definitely recommend the King in Yellow expansion, probably my favorite so far of the smaller expansions.
Well, I think that's about all I have for tonight - stay tuned for the blizzard I had to walk through and about my impromptu trip to New York City!
Much love to you, my friend.
Work continues to go well for me, though it has gotten busier and more hectic with the passing of the days. A new position has brought increased responsibility and stress levels, but I've been trying to handle it well. A coworker and I have been reading a book called The Energy Bus, and discussing it when we can. I've really enjoyed what I've read so far, and most of all the basic principle of the book: you are the driver of your own bus. I'm in charge of my life. Yes, things may happen that are out of my control, but I have the opportunity and power to respond in a positive way.
This has really helped me deal with the hardships this winter, and turn them around to my advantage. It has also helped me take more ownership over my life. So often I make excuses about this or that - the things that weigh me down. All of the sudden dishes have piled up in the sink, the floors need to be vacuumed, and laundry has piled up and become unmanageable. Reading this book and following some of the basic principles has helped me end that destructive cycle and take ownership over the excess tasks in my life that I find so tedious.
I've been really stepping up my coffee game, trying to work on my latte art skills - I have a few photos to share with you over the next few days that demonstrate this. I hope to be able to get a good coffee grinder in the next few weeks to further up my game. My mom got me several other useful tools like a bottomless portafilter that have been helping me adjust my skills. I can notice the quality of the end product improve.
I recently got an expansion to Eldritch horror called The Mountains of Madness - I haven't gotten an opportunity to try it yet, but I'm really looking forward to it. I should be able to break it out tomorrow after I get a few tasks done. Another board game I love, Elder Sign, also has an expansion that should be coming out soon - I'm really looking forward to picking that up and trying it. Hopefully it'll integrate a bit easier than the Mountains of Madness expansion. I have a hard enough time beating Eldritch Horror I'm not sure how I'll do.
My sister got me a small expansion to another board game, Arkham Horror, which takes the number of expansions I have for that game up to 5. Only 3 more to go and my collection will be complete! My first playthrough with that expansion was also very exciting and memorable. From the first turn, the game had it in for me. If you enjoy Arkham Horror, I definitely recommend the King in Yellow expansion, probably my favorite so far of the smaller expansions.
Well, I think that's about all I have for tonight - stay tuned for the blizzard I had to walk through and about my impromptu trip to New York City!
Much love to you, my friend.
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