John Zeitler

Actually, since the post isn’t finished yet, this is a pre-post post post. But the actual post is in, so the post post post could be said to be being posted, but I feel like that’s cheating. Maybe we should call this a peri-post post post. Once the post has been posted, I’ll have a post post that I can post about.

This post made a lot more sense in my head.

I’m still reading, this time tackling a large set of tomes that I’ve had on my list for a ponderous amount of time. I would say a long time, but honestly the weight these books have kind of implies the word “ponderous” even without being metaphorical. I mean it. These are big damn books.

Of course, some other interesting things came across my path, and once March rolls around I’ll be glad to tell you all about them. Patience.

I honestly have been trying to be more interesting, and to provide you with a fair amount of content to discuss here this month. The problem is, in doing all this stuff, I’ve found it a little hard to make time to blog about it… Still, I finished reading a book today, got primer on about half of the miniatures I’ve assembled (the other half will come tomorrow or Thursday), ran some errands, and watched curling. This last point is of paramount importance, I think, because I also understood it.

There were a couple more games today, but out in Vancouver there are a few more important games going on. A lot of people are somewhat disillusioned by the concept of the games, and I can certainly understand why; the world climate right now isn’t like it was in 1980, when tensions ran high and the world held its breath for miracles on and off the ice. I, of course, never saw that particular event. Still, I think there’s something fascinating about the Olympics. While the world isn’t going on hold like it used to, and while there’s no longer the same feeling that the games are sacrosanct (Munich and Atlanta showed that adequately, so we need no further demonstrations), I’m willing to believe that the people competing truly believe that the games foster a sense of international community. I’d like to believe that the games still serve their intended purpose.

Plus it’s the only time I ever get to see curling on American television. So there’s that.

I think we’ve established that my family is remarkably competitive. Today I wound up in two card games which could have been mistaken, at times, for a knock-down drag-out no-holds-barred beatdown.

And I loved every second of them. I wonder what that says about me, let alone my sister?

When you know that you need to get a good night’s sleep ahead of a pretty important day, just bite the bullet and go to a hotel room. That way you’re ensured that your neighbors won’t try anything silly like stomping around upstairs at 4a.

So today was nice– the fact that this post is so late should be indicative of that. It started off with some good news on the anime front (which I’ll talk about a bit more in March), then I played some games and went to a job interview (and got turned down for another position I didn’t realistically think I could get), and I ended up at a concert surrounded by a thousand geeks and one really big one on stage. Yeah.

I may not be a completely hopeless nerd-recluse just yet, but I can see that particular horizon from here…

There was a lot of good news today, some of which I’ll be able to share very soon– not the good news that I suppose is obvious in this situation, but many smaller, still pleasant things. I have an appointment tomorrow, at the very least, and a ticket to a concert as well. So Friday will be interesting, to say nothing of what’s going to follow it.

I’ll keep you advised. This week has been frustrating but it’s nice to feel it finally turning around.

There’s a pretty simple way to determine if the game you’re playing is good, great, or the much sought-after, rarely attained “epic”. Here’s the general guideline:

If you look up and say, “When did it get to be three in the afternoon?”, it’s a good game.
If you look up and say, “When did it get to be dark?”, it’s a great game.
If you look up and say, “When did it get to be Wednesday?” you’re probably dealing with an epic game.

I think I finished a “great” game today. It was way too short to be epic– only about six hours– but a spotty internet connection meant I wasn’t gonna get a whole lot of other work done anyway.

In 1920, in the grips of a chilly December during a period when the world was looking forward to a time of prosperity, the poet Robert Frost opined about how everything would end. His poem Fire and Ice is short, simple, easily located, and completely terrifying.

And now, ninety years later, based on how the city of Pittsburgh is reacting to a little snowfall, you’d think he nailed it dead on.