June 2011
4 posts
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Tabletop feedback
You have to love the honesty of children. I received the type of feedback I needed on how they took to the tabletop gaming session.
So let me set the stage briefly, I setup a short series of encounters and a quick story to give them a taste of the game and see how they would respond. As we were playing, and we had a hard stop because it was a school night, there were plenty of enthusiastic...
May 2011
4 posts
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Tabletop time
I’m about to embark on a journey which will carry me down a path I have not visited in years. My neighbor and good friend approached me today about getting a tabletop RPG, well, on the table. :)
I’ve been asked to host a Dungeons and Dragons style game. And while I’m all for it and volunteered to have something setup for a holiday-edition game by Monday, I can’t help...
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On mentoring
There is something truly amazing about the process of mentoring. You get to craft something intangible and wonderful in the makeup of another soul. And if it is done right, it is indeed a wonder to behold.
You start with a concept. Simple, pure and innocent. You then introduce the individual to the concept sometimes plainly, sometimes abstractly. Then you plant seeds in them on how they...
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Scratch one [year]
When one accomplishes a major milestone, it is usually a reason to feel jubilant or even celebratory. Today I feel neither despite the significant accomplishment that has finally fallen. And in the end, I can only look back at the last year of my life and wonder what the hell it was all for.
Kicking, scratching, clawing - doing anything I can to make this project successful. Working incredibly...
April 2011
1 post
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Dipping the toe in again
It has been a while. I guess you could say that I have been away, hiding from this place I used to call home. I’ve managed to bury myself under piles of paper, bureaucracy and bullshit. Translation? Work.
My commitment going forward? To not let it control my entire life. It has left me in a state of mind where I feel as though I am just going through the motions. I’m not...
January 2011
4 posts
1 tag
What is the most fun thing you've done this year...
In 2011? That only gives me 20+ days to chose from. Hmm… That one is tough.
I think I’ll go with an event where I and a handful of my friends ventured down to Korean BBQ in Los Angeles at a place called Road to Seoul. There was plenty of drinking and good food to go with large laughs and generally obnoxious behavior by all. It was a great way to let off some steam and just enjoy...
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Have you played WoW at all since Cata? If not, do...
My Goblin Rogue is now level 44… :)
But I’m trying to maintain more of a balance in everything I do. It is more of a case of having too many hobbies and simply not enough time to get to it all. Such is life, right?
I’m game for most anything, ask away. The identity however stays private. :)
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What's your favorite fantasy?
It has to be the “if I won the lotto” scenario. The reason being is that with a monstrous commute, a demanding work schedule and trying to juggle being a parent to three children and a husband to a deserving wife, I’m always trying to find ways to squeeze more time out of a 24-hour day. And as such, I’m always wanting for more free time. Oh and for the record, it should...
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Given total control of your country and agreement...
This question is simply too heavy to answer seriously, so I’m going to avoid that possibility and stick with what I know best, sarcasm.
#1 - I’d abolish Monday’s, period.
#2 - I’d eliminate the electoral college and have the popular vote determine our elected officials. Damn, a serious answer snuck in. I’ll avoid that in #3.
#3 - I’d outlaw spandex over a...
December 2010
2 posts
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Telecommuting fun...
I’ve been enjoying the ability to telecommute to work this week. I’m not so sure my wife has as it means that I get to pester her even more over the course of a day.
So this morning after working for a few hours I got up to refill my water and I see her at the stove working on something and there are newspapers on the floor near her feet all sort of spread out. I immediately...
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How about that /52?
I’m still committed to it, I’m just REALLY FUCKING behind! :)
Stay tuned sports fans, more to come. I promised it to myself.
November 2010
5 posts
3 tags
Selective Applicability
I love the notion of selective applicability. It works so well when you are trying to communicate effectively and the receiver selectively decides what is applicable to them. When this happens, they zero in on the components of the message that they emotionally respond to and seem to summarily dismiss the remainder of the content and disregard the original scope.
Perhaps if I had posted the...
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A call to arms
Here is the original work that was submitted to MetaTalks as part of the NaPodPoMo efforts @alachia and @eljeppy have undertaken to perform 30 podcasts in 30 days.
A call to arms
Speak now, for your time in the spotlight may be finite And may your words lift the hearts and spirits of those within the congregation
May you find the courage to lead by example and not merely expectation or other...
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Collaboration - abused
While trudging through the commute this evening I decided to entertain myself by listening to the Westwood 1 coverage of the NFL Monday Night Football game until I could get home and flick on the set to watch the end of the beating. I started to get really annoyed with one of the broadcasters for abusing a word that really had no business in his vocabulary given the subject matter. At first I...
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Starting with a /52
Well I think this week I’m going to embark on a 52 week photo project to capture at least one interesting photo a week for the next year and see how things go. I’m going to leave the subject matter open and essentially go with a random /52.
Here is to the jumping off point, let the snapshots begin!
August 2010
1 post
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July 2010
1 post
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Why even shoot JPEG?
I’ve been using my DSLR now for over a year. Since the date of purchase, I’ve been shooting exclusively in RAW+JPEG mode. The only problem is I can’t remember if I have even made use of the JPEG’s ever since. So this begs the question of the post title. Why even bother?
I haven’t found a compelling reason other than for quick-turnaround when you don’t have...
June 2010
9 posts
3 tags
A teary-eyed goodbye
Today we said our goodbyes to family and friends as we took our leave from Prague. For some of them, this will likely be a final goodbye due to age.
There is something very powerful about finality when you stare it in the face. You cannot help but feel powerless in its hands, and wonder if you did enough while you had the opportunity. What did you miss, or forget? Did you say enough? ...
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Netbook, we miss you
So my netbook took a bit of a fall today from about three feet. It was the proverbial sharp intake of breath moment as the pc hit the ground. Fearing the worst, I lifted the screen. All looked ok, until I powered the unit on. That was when the real damage to the screen revealed itself.
The unit powers on ok, but the liquid crystals in the display fractured in several places making the...
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Life in a medieval city
I had a fantastic conversation this evening at a social gathering here in Czech this evening. The gentleman is way-extended family through my in-laws side, and spoke rather good English for someone who has only been at it for a relatively short time. The conversation surrounded a thought that has been playing through my mind over the past few days while gallivanting across parts of Czech.
...
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Communal families
One of the interesting things I have learned while visiting extended family (in-laws) that has really been profound is the real feeling of communal families. In Europe, and specifically in Czech, it is very common for multiple generations of families to live under the same roof. The house layout is typically a two-story affair with the younger generation with their children occupying one floor...
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Photo Opp
I found it amazing that while driving to the our place of stay while in the Czech Republic (a stones throw away from Prague) that around every bend I found a fantastic photo opp. The countryside is simply beautiful with lush green rolling hills, old farmhouses, overgrown marshes and all sorts of interesting counterpoints between architecture and nature. Pictures will be forthcoming.
I wonder...
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Will work for technology...
I am such a gadget geek, I just can’t help it. It drives the wife crazy when something new shows up at the house. And I really can’t blame her. There is something about the allure of a new device to play with, to figure out, to integrate, to plot world domination with, etc. You know what I mean, right? It’s as much a part of me as is my enjoyment of parenting and being a...
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Twitter me this Batman
I figured I’d give tumblr a try since it has been seriously growing in popularity. Couple this with the fact that Twitter, as a microblogging service, has been having some serious performance issues and limits me to 140 characters, I thought I’d give this a whirl. I’ll spew forth all sorts of junk here, so have fun with it!
Welcome aboard!
