Mild Update.

Tuesday, April 12th, 2011

So yeah, if you’re wondering why there was no Monday post, two reasons:

1) Friend was visiting from out of town for the weekend. As a result, got no topic research done.

2) Discovered SpiralKnights. You should too. I’m on there as Hidoshi. If you play, give me a shout.

See ya’ll on Thursday with a new article.

Resolving Negativity

Monday, April 4th, 2011

Okay folks, let’s talk about negativity today. Negativity, even in small portions, can utterly destroy the ability of a group to function. It erodes stability and, like an infection, spreads quickly. It’s why so many people have a hard time functioning at their jobs, and why many of us believe in apocalyptic scenarios. As creative, happy people of one stripe or another, we know how much negativity can do us in at the knees. It can be a bad day at work, a nasty comment by a friend or relative, or a conversation that went down an avenue you didn’t mean it to. Any of these can be a source of negativity, and it’s something we all have to deal with. Negativity breads paranoia, resentment, and a host of other problems.
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Playing Outside Your Stereotype

Saturday, April 2nd, 2011

By now, you may have heard that there has been some protest against the romantic options included in BioWare’s Dragon Age 2. There’s a sufficient amount of, shall we say, homosexually-oriented content involved. And “exotic” sexual content, whatever that means. So much so, that apparently some gamers feel like the “Straight Male Gamer” is being ignored. Others feel like the homosexual content is being misrepresented, and that it should have been pared back. While I can’t really speak for the game’s mechanics, I’d at least like us all to talk about how we as gamers explore sexual archetypes, and what it means to think outside the [sex]box.

Let’s dig in.
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Socially Responsible Gamification

Friday, April 1st, 2011

Let’s talk about gamification for a moment.

Gamification is, simply put, the integration of certain game-like features into everyday tasks and chores. Gamification can be found in our culture today, and it’s quickly spreading.
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Reflections on the New Year

Friday, March 4th, 2011

This year got off to a real rough start. My grandfather was in the hospital over Christmas and came back in the middle of January. We missed him at both Christmas and New Years, something I’ve never had to deal with before. But, despite being cleared of pneumonia and any other illness, and seemingly on the way to recovery, my Grandfather has since passed away.

It’s strange to think about it, now almost a month since he left us. I do have a strong inkling that we’ll meet again, and again, because of how tightly wound our karma is. He passed away mysteriously in his sleep, the doctor thinks because of a heart attack. Whatever it was, I think he knew. He gave his rings to my Grandmother a few days before he passed. He had never taken them off before. I was standing there when he said “I won’t need them anymore”, and I thought nothing of it.

When I was leaving for G-Anime, I went to see him before we had to get underway on our road trip. He held my hand and smiled, and I said I’d see him when I got back. He said “maybe”, told me I was good, and I thought nothing of it.

A mere few minutes after I arrived back in Toronto on Sunday, around 2 am, I got a call. I still remember my heart stopping as I answered it, seeing it was my Grandparents. I didn’t bother to put on a jacket or anything. Kels and I just rushed to the car and back to the house as fast as we could. What followed… Well.

The first week after was rough. We held his funeral on that Thursday, and I was happy to see how many of his friends and students, old and new, turned out to wish him their best. He looked like a great warrior, finally at rest, and I could feel him watching us, overseeing things and giving advice in hushed whispers, as he always had.

The man closest to me, the greatest person I’ve yet known, and my teacher, all in one, and now I have to say a goodbye. It’s hard in one way, because I know he’s still out there. I just long for the day when I can see him again, and even if things are wildly different — if indeed we’re different people when we meet again, I hope I recognise him, or that he recognises me, and shows me the way again.

Farewell, Grandpa. Talk to me again soon.

A difficult Christmas season.

Saturday, December 25th, 2010

I’m usually really happy for Christmas. I get to see a lot of my relatives (I thankfully come from a family that isn’t tripping over itself with obnoxious habits), I like giving presents to my friends, and I like the sense of community and happiness that washes over everyone. It’s usually really good.

At the centre of it, my Grandfather’s been an eternal fixture. He’s taught the majority of us something good about ourselves, and he’s always been a symbol of unity and benevolence. I wouldn’t be nearly half the man I am today without his guidance. Anything good about me is probably his responsibility, really.

This year, he’s in the hospital. (more…)

Relearning

Tuesday, December 21st, 2010

Having misspoken recently about a person who is both a dear friend and colleague, I’ve decided to reexamine where I stand with design. My significant other’s also been harassing me with the idea of “settling” and the ills therein.

It feels as though when last spring passed, a big chunk of me went with it. I just don’t feel like the last year has been up to spec where I’m concerned, and I think it’s a good idea if I change that before the new year rolls around.

Probably a good time to head down to Swipe Books and get my head checked by the design doctors down there.

Automotive Troubles

Thursday, September 23rd, 2010

Well, it seems my automotive troubles may be at a more-than-temporary end. My white, 1998 Pontiac Sunfire, affectionately known as “Banjo I” (due to her license plate), is finally going to the great junkyard in the sky. She’s had a run of troubles this year, from a dead alternator through to corroded tubes that feed her power steering, and now to top it all off, a smashed windshield. “Banjo II”, her successor, is awaiting me on a lot (hopefully) tomorrow, in the form of a blue, 2005 PT Cruiser.

I’m rather excited.

A car like the PT Cruiser is something I’ve wanted for a long time. One of the advantages of a hatchback, after all, is being able to put down the seats and have both a wide and tall trunk at your disposal. A PT Cruiser is just such a car, and it looks like a bit of a 1920′s gangstermobile to boot. I’m lovin’ it.

In other news, I’ve started re-watching an old favourite of mine, Maison Ikkoku. I know some of the kids out there think very little of anime, but even for the naysayers, this’d qualify as a pretty touching romantic story. Watching it makes me miss a lot of things, including the days when traditional animation meant there was a human grit to the production.

Tonight is shwarma time now. Delicious.