Author: admin

Excited to be starting a new week and hopefully getting into a new groove as I start to develop a new novel and work heartily on the old one. The fantasy? It is still too big to write and I still don’t know the story I want to tell. In the process of developing the world I started thinking that I might come around to writing and publishing a book on building systems of magic for fantasy writing and gaming. I’ve learned and thought and created so much of that so far that it feels about that time to create this. So, in short order there are at least four projects available to me to work on. This means I am not quite used up yet. I like it.

I’ve been thinking about systems in general. I once developed a sport based around goal scoring that was meant for super powered individuals. The system of it was really fun to develop and it feels like, though that was a moment in time, the idea of system building that arose was meaningful. Now… apply that same concept to space and ship to ship gaming. That could be very interesting indeed. Space is huge and once you cannot see the enemy, it becomes a giant game of battleship. So, let us start there. I want to develop SPACE BATTLESHIP. Similar concept in three dimensional space. It is best suited for a computer game but works as a board game if you dial space into distinct levels. Not much but it is a start.

Some Thoughts:

1. Gary Brown and Dwayne Haskins both passed on this week. These things come in threes, yknow.

Tried a new custody strategy this week. We had the kids the entire week while the ex had them the previous week. The idea was to explore what this would feel like and what life could look like if we operated in this fashion. We couldn’t have picked a worse week. Between state testing jacking up school schedules and sports stuff spread out over the week, we (mostly me because I accept the task as mine) found ourselves driving all over town multiple times a day. I went through an entire tank of gas. I also had far less time to myself than I am accustomed to. Had I been writing steadily I would’ve lost at least 3 whole days. They wouldn’t have been balanced out by the no kids week either because that was largely couple time.

What did We learn? The kids like the schedule. They like sinking into each space vs moving every few days. I like having them for a longer stretch of time personally, but they need to develop better habits of cleanliness and of time management. I too need to stay on top of them more and make sure things are getting handled. Biggest miss: my first born didn’t get registered for college as planned.

The week off was great. We enjoyed a ton of us time. I had a lot of fun with my partner. I didn’t do enough work, but I’m planning on fighting that fight with myself tomorrow. All in all, the schedule was a win for me personally and we’ve a lot to talk about moving forward as a couple. This is only one of many possible options.

My kid is on the way to prom with two of his best friends from his entire childhood. They started together as early as first grade and, in spite of going to different schools in some cases, the three of them stayed locked in. I suspect at least two of them will ride to college together, and that would be nice. It would be a far better site than I dealt with, practically starting fresh until I linked up with a friend from high school who grew to be my brother. I’m so excited to see where life takes my first born. Prom is a rite of passage for many. For some it is about sex. For some is about love. For some it is about friendship. I’m excited to be parent of a kid who chose to be about friendship and let all of those other things fall into place where they may.

I remember my prom night and my date. I honestly do not remember making it inside the prom. We had fun that evening and connected with so may friends. I don’t remember how it ended. I don’t remember ever really having a relationship with my prom date other than the idea that we were supposed to go together and being friends prior to that moment. Time stretches the imagination in ways that change truth to fiction and vice versa. I don’t even remember who I was those thirty years ago. Yet I know I wasn’t a fraction of the man I am today in so many ways. Rite of passage is another way of saying moving into something new. So here is to my first born moving into something new. I hope he enjoys every second of his journey moving forward.

Some Thoughts:

1. Dwayne Haskins, back up QB and once heralded FB star QB, died recently as the result of a car accident. He was hit by a car, presumably while on foot. More details are emerging, but what catches my eye is that in a day where everything on the road felt so enraged it comes as no surprise that someone famous died to that din.

Okay. Take a breath.

I’m trying to figure out in my own mind why everything feels so stressed right now. As I’m listening to my division meeting and letting the accidental ASMR of my college president wash over me I’m realizing I have been quite stressed. About everything. It feels like I am teetering on a cliff at the bottom of which is imaginable misery. I don’t have that answer beyond it just being that kind of day.

Some Thoughts:

1. I need to stay off Instagram. Every time I see it I am tugged back into this world of youth football.
2. Why am I on? I’m trying to track down some of the research I did on Capsule-style beds through that medium. Turns out I am a terribly inefficient researcher.
3. Why Capsule Beds? Trying to create a new and smaller living space for the kids.

Honestly, the title is much ado about nothing. I thought of it, wrote it down, and had nothing to follow it up. If anything I could talk about the way Flores’ Truth Bomb blew up what looked to be a conspiracy to unite Tom Brady with Sean Payton, the Dolphins, and the fastest WR corps in the NFL. Once Flores dropped dime on the NFL (after not getting treated right or not playing along depending on your perspective) the Brady to Miami plan went away… for a minute. Miami hired the whitest black guy in known history and Brady will ride as a Buc yet again.

All of this is meaningless. I’ve discovered that much I trouble myself with in the world is trivial. This is likely because I can have no impact on the stuff that genuinely means something and rationalizing that powerlessness is a lot harder than watching grown men play sports and feeling a specific way enough about those sports that I play a digital version at home.

Some Thoughts:

1. I have 5 boys watching four different shows at this exact moment. Screens are everywhere!
2. I have a giant ‘bible’ of mixed drinks I gave my partner years ago and we’ve yet to open it up. Meanwhile, we keep looking for new drink recipes…
3. Water is the pathway to salvation.

My youngest keeps trying to convince me that his beloved Seahawks will get one of the Giants skill players this year. This week he’s saying Kadarius is going there. He’s not. With the release of Gil Brandt’s hot 100 and MMQBs first 10 taken mock we are legit in the season of the speculation. For me the only real speculation is ‘do the Giants get Ikem ‘Ickey’ Ekwanu. I liked him before but knowing he was offered scholarships to Harvard and Yale makes me like him more. Dude has brains. He was a Fulbright Scholar (Look at the brains on Brad). He’s a smart footballer which means he will be able to develop well as a lineman beyond his base physical abilities. Line is a mind game vs. the guy across from you and understanding how they operate and countering that over the course of a week’s prep. So, I am penciling him in as the pick if he is still there at 5.

Some Thoughts:

1. Writing scene might be heating up for me. Lord knows I need the deadline.
2. Meanwhile, I’m about to download Halo Infinite…

I’m actually running out of things to say again. Strange problem for a writer. Of course, we’ve recently covered that I am not writing. I have a tendency to go through periods of great drought when I don’t have deadlines. I find just about anything else to grasp onto. Instead I find myself sitting lifelessly in front of a keyboard trying to figure out how to spend these ten minutes.

Some Thoughts:

1. I cannot find a single xbox game worth playing more than the Elden Ring I’ve already downloaded on PS5. All the new hotness is scheduled for a post-summer release. That leaves me gameless. Madden is practically dead to me. I guess I can play some Apex, but I don’t want to.

Well, Kansas just won the NCAA ‘ship. They were down by a ton at the half and managed to storm back and overcome the largest deficit in NCAA championship history. Nice. Maybe not the cinderella story we looked for, but we got a story. Sports is always about the story. The story is often as important and at time more important than the skill of the players involved. That is why some expert players aren’t focused on nearly as much as others. We live in story. We believe in story. In story we conceptualize who we could be if the situation were just a little different–if we got to shoot our shot. Part of the story being told here was about Roy Williams having been the HC of both the teams playing tonight. The Roy Williams bowl. Nice, but for our household the story was about Remy Martin finally getting his moment to win the tournament–the moment he risked (and likely missed) his career for. He was a top 10 prospect when he was a sophomore and here he is, a 5th year player and a bench player on the Jayhawks and still the guy who carried them forward at the end. Only, nobody seems to be telling that story. Sometimes stories have their moment and then the moment fades, no matter how more interesting they get.

Some Thoughts:

1. I am, for lack of a better term, addicted to story. I just have been spending tons more time listening to and playing through stories than I have been telling my own. As the years flutter by I need to be thinking about telling more of my stories while I still can.
2. One of the stories I still feel I need to constantly tell is the sports stories of my kids. I guess it makes me feel involved.

I want to take a few minutes to digest the disparity between what is happening with Redskins Owner Daniel Snyder and what is happening with new Browns QB Deshaun Watson. This is not about race and this is not about me believing in Watson’s innocence. This is about money and how someone as powerful as Snyder is enabled to skate while Watson faces intense media scrutiny.

To sum up the situation Watson has 22 civil cases against him for sexual misconduct. Snyder faces scrutiny after reports surfaced of years of sexual misconduct and harassment. The difference here is financial. In fact, the NFL basically slapped Snyder on the wrist and moved on (after he suddenly decided to rebrand the team… like a good sport?). Meanwhile, the Watson protests and negative press is endless. The only thing being said about Snyder lately is that he may have cheated other owners out of money and, if true, that could mean the end of his ownership.

So, create a culture of sex abuse in the organization and you good. Steal and you done. At least the NFL is consistent. Jerry Jones, Robert Kraft.. both have been caught up in difficult sex-driven situations and the league says nothing. It stands to reason that the NFL doesn’t care about women as much as it does about revenue. If it turns out that Watson is bad for business, he may end up out of the picture a la Kaepernick.

Some Thoughts:

1. Stewart’s The Problem With this week was excellent as was Oliver’s newest Last Week. Both struck chords about capitalism in a way that should resonate with everyone. Stewart tackled race in a way I felt was really eye opening.
2. Birds Aren’t Real… Just go look for yourself.

Decided to extend our trip. We transited from San Diego to LA. I’d never been to LA until now, and the lady felt it was high time for me to see the sights. We did see some of them. We drove up the (highly unsafe) winding road to Griffith Park Observatory. We went to Chinatown. We ate plenty of good eats near our swaggy hotel. The best part of an impromptu extension is the uncertainty/freedom of not having any real plans and doing simply what comes to mind and what feels right in the moment.

Some Thoughts:

1. The coach K story isn’t going to end with a national championship… or final 4 win. In fact it ends the same way the last home game ended–at the hands of UNC. So, I suspect UNC v. Kansas will be without the drama.
2. Trying Life & Beth. Show is interesting and weird and honest. I like it a little bit but not and incredible amount just yet.