Talk Soup: StarGirl’s language skills are growing tremendously, and she’s starting to combine words into phrases, including “Hi Daddy” and “Hi Mommy!” This is very cool, and surprising — I mean, heck, I knew she’d be talking eventually, but it’s downright shocking the first time you ask a question, and get a real answer back. … Read more
I’ve been watching John Kerry’s “swift boat” controversy with some interest for the last few weeks. At this point I’m one of those all-important uncommitted independent voters who hasn’t decided which lesser evil he wants to vote for yet. I haven’t seen any of the infamous “Swiftie” ads attacking the circumstances surrounding Kerry’s valorous conduct … Read more
It’s no great secret around here that I’m a Mac fan, but I’ve got to say that Apple’s design for the new iMac has left me cold. As with the previous iMacs, it’s an all in one design. This time around though, that design takes the form of a flat-screen monitor that’s been bulked up … Read more
GenCon, that gaming mecca held once a year in Indianapolis, is drawing to a close. And despite having gamed until unconsciousness at our home-grown NukemCon convention, I really wished I’d been there. The immensity of GenCon — the thousands of gamers gather together to play countless games, the cathedral-like exhibition hall, the electric buzz of … Read more
CNN has a story about the growth of home schooling in the United States, which has increased by 29% since 1999. What I found interesting about the article isn’t the growth of home schooling — it’s hardly a surprise to anyone outside of liberal circles (and maybe them as well), it’s this paraphrase from Ted … Read more
What a weekend. It started with a fun game of Settlers of Catan, and ended with a 2 a.m. trip for StarGirl to the emergency room. It started on Thursday, when StarGirl became cranky and moody. She was drooling too, so figured she was getting another tooth. But with 16 teeth already, we were surprised … Read more
NukemCon has come and gone, and now that I’ve caught up on my sleep and my caffeine twitches have faded, it’s time to evaluate our first-ever home-grown convention. Overall, I think it went quite well. We got to play a heck of a lot games, although not nearly as many as I’d hoped. The final … Read more
I love Amazon’s personalization features, constantly offering up new products for me to check out, but occasionally its recommendations veer into the surreal. Take, for example, this recent recommendation: Nancy Drew: The Secret of Shadow Ranch was released just 4 days ago on July 16, 2004; We thought you’d be interested because you bought Diablo … Read more
The sun rose on NukemCon to find many a bleary-eyed gamer driving through Phillipsburg looking for breakfast. After snagging sustenance at McDonald’s and Manhattan Bagel, the stalwart dice-throwers returned to Easton and the first session of the day: Dungeons & Dragons. It was the third part of the D&D adventure we’d been playing all weekend, … Read more
The Blackrazor Motor Pool was forced into action on Day 2 of NukemCon, as car troubles harried our otherwise excellent day of gaming. It started with Bill’s car; when we went to get the third television out for our Xbox network, he caught a glimpse of something gleaming in his tire. Yes, in his tire. … Read more