Day: July 18, 2023

It is a particular person who writes in a dead genre. It is a particular person who recognizes that a genre is dead and yet pursues an abundance of writing in that genre. I’ve begun to feel the effects of that over the past few weeks as I am writing these few cyberpunk/magic related projects. Shadowrun exist(ed) at the intersection of magic and cyberpunk born out of 80’s pulp with a heavy handed nod to William Gibson. and Walter Jon Williams. Most people only know one of those two names. I myself only knew one of the names when I came into the genre. That, for all intents and purposes, makes me a bit of a poser. I’ve gotten sturdier in my knowledge and appreciation over the years, but as I did so I watched (and felt) the genre evolve beyond where the books and rpg wanted to go. So, we remain in a stasis position trying to hang on to something referential to what the modern audience does not even know or understand. So, instead of deepening our hold and understanding of the Cyberpunk, the game has fled to more magical shores.

I’m not with that.

Balance in all things, nes pas? I want to feel that ‘Constantine’ grit of magic in a world where the corporations treat us like lemmings they can push towards the ledge of their choosing. I want to feel like I’m writing a better version of the Matrix. I don’t though. Perhaps that ought to be a sign to get out, but I’m not that guy. No, I’m going to double down and go in a different direction and see how dark and dystopian I can make this thing before my time in the genre officially runs out.

Some Thoughts:

1. Still dodging the KondoMari way… I set up everything to be sorted and reduced, but I am slow-footing the process hard. It is the tee shirts. I don’t want to deal with them.

Not a ton of time to spend on the words since the boys just rolled back into town and I want to give them some attention before they start school. But there is always ten minutes for…

Some Thoughts:

1. Saquon Barkley not signing his tender is a smart business move on the surface, but the fact is that the team holds all the cards. He can not sign all he wants, and continue to move towards that age of diminishment and not making money. It sucks because he is an awesome talent and the heart of the franchise. However, they decided to go a different direction after the market for RBs crashed. This is a long term-minded organization and the captain is good for two or three more top shelf years. He knows it. He is going to need to bite the bullet, take the $$, and hope he does not get a major injury.
2. The school year is right around the corner and I think I want to try new things this year. Specifically, I want to update my courses to reflect more issues of right now. I want to rebuild in a way that puts the energy on the students to bring the issues and talk about what they are really about. Not comics. Enough of the comics.
3. Meamwhile, Madden is still screwing me and I will not likely get the promised discount. To make matters worse, the game doesn’t appear to be worth all the money I will be investing.
4. Perhaps I will have more money to invest if I can get a W in tonight’s powerball or tomorrow’s mega millions. I would do really good thing with that huge jackpot. Sure, I’d spend a third on my family and myself, but I’d spend a third developing an organization to help the homeless (and perhaps branching out to do more following that). Perhaps even calling it the Turnaround foundation or the Arcology initiative…
5. Life is good. Hot, but good. I expect I will wind up in the pool after all this summer…