Random Notes

Just warming up the mental muscles this morning...maybe the typing fingers, too.

• The Seattle Seahawks boarded a plane to Germany today for a game versus the Bucs in what will be the first ever NFL game in that country. They're off to Munich which is, perhaps, my favorite German city ('course I've only ever been to three or four cities in Germany...).  I've heard ticket prices are something in the neighborhood of $500 with some 3 million folks trying to get in the game; one would assume the sport would appeal to a large segment of the culture. For my part, I wish I could go just to get back to Bavaria, which is MY version of Disney Land (i.e. "the happiest place on Earth"): mountains and castles, beer and schnitzel, cathedrals and museums, the Autobahn...sheesh. An abundance of riches. Hope the 'Hawks have fun.

• In sad news, a child was murdered at a local high school, another victim of gun violence. Not a crazed psychopath with mass shooting agenda, just a hormonal 14 year old with far-too-easy access to a handgun. Now, multiple lives have been ruined: victim and shooter, family and friends, students and teachers. I know the school well; it is the public school that serves the same neighborhood/community as my kids' elementary school. Many siblings (at least six) of my kids' classmates attend the school. A sad, frightening day yesterday. 

• In happier news, Washington State continued to be a bastion of sanity and democracy judging by the election results of 2022...and it appears such was the case for a lot of the country, stymying the predicted Red Wave. That makes me somewhat...hopeful? I won't say more than that, because delving into the politics of this country makes me equal parts sad and angry, and I know it tends to rile up my readers. Thank you to everyone who voted (one way or the other): our democracy only has a chance of being a representative reflection of our society if we make our voices heard. Voting is the way we do that.

• In my publishing "business:" sold a bunch of books lately. Must be the holiday season. Thank you to everyone who's given me money: as I've written before, it's much appreciated and encourages me to do more.

• In general gaming: picked up a copy of Jeffrey C. Dillow's RPG Adventures in Fantasy Gaming. First published in 1980, I'd never heard of this game before finding it on the shelf. Compact, hardcover (the good kind), lovely illustrations, it is somewhat reminiscent of Fantasy Wargaming being based off a wargaming model (by which I mean: something like a combo of ODD+Chainmail with a heavy emphasis on the Chainmail). Unlike FW, though, it seems far less inclined towards the medieval/historical and far more fantastical and...dare-I-say...American-ish (Fantasy Wargaming is distinctly Euro-centric, in my opinion). Looking forward to the chance of digesting it. Appears to have at least a couple of adventure scenarios in it that I might purloin (including rather nice maps).

[oh, wait...here's a review]

• In television: started watching Reservation Dogs with the wife. Fantastic show. Equal measures funny and heartbreaking. I've had some extremely limited experience with tribal nations in Washington (both in general and as part of my former job) and my aunt in Montana worked as a federal liaison to the tribes for the last couple decades. Oklahoma isn't the same as Washington and Montana but there are shared similarities of reservation life.  Just a really well made, well cast, well written production...must see TV.

• In Dragonlance/D&D: nothing to report. However, it is my birthday Sunday and perhaps I can wrangle some D&D play out of the family. We'll see. After getting up at 6am to watch the Seahawks play in Germany, and then heading out to watch my son's morning soccer match, I might just decide to take a nap. But we'll see. 

Okay. That wasn't a terribly bad "warm up." Now let's see if I can get something a bit more substantial.