Thursday Things

March 22, 2018

What I’m Contemplating

Might be our last visit from Matthew in a while! He and roommate Chris were in town for spring break, and we tried to forecast when Matthew might be home again and couldn’t think of a a future date! He’s finishing his junior year at West Point and has a full calendar ahead, plus we are in NY for the summer. The photo above is Matthew and his roommate.
Why I Quit Google to Work for Myself – Every company will have the good and the bad. Google’s relentless “meritocracy” (I put that in quotes because they aspire for that but like every company, struggle to realize it and struggle with different dimensions of merit) can alienate what might be the best and brightest.
Rip City Con Day 6 – A Grand (Tactical) Affair – More of a friendly service reminder that my friend Doug is back in the blogging business and wrote up our gaming retreat. This article is about our play of Operation Mercury. I loved playing the GTS system and look forward to more play in the future.
2017 Behind-the-Scenes Stakeholder Report for Stonemaier Games – My most admired gaming company, not just for the quality of their (his) productions but also the business leadership and transparency of Jamey Stegmaier. I wrote a similar article, albeit on a much smaller scale, over 12 years ago on the economics of Havoc.
The Poison We Pick – Read this and perhaps your perspective on what are truly arbitrary legal (and moral) distinctions surrounding the various substances we consume and inject.

Julie, Matthew, Chris, and I enjoyed some Irish music and dancing on the night before St. Patty's day. A friend was dancing to Cul An Ti.
First Listen: The Decemberists, ‘I’ll Be Your Girl’ – This one is a hit! Now available on your favorite streaming services, this album is in heavy rotation for me right now. Favorites: Severed and Once in my Life. I told Julie yesterday that this has echoes of 1980s pop, namely Tears for Fears.
First Listen: Mount Eerie, ‘Now Only’ – Not really my thing, but I’m glad I listened through it as it did grow on me after initial revulsion.

Doug and I played Pax Renaissance in a learning game for him. I’m getting better at teaching this wonderful game, but still have room to improve. Doug won with a nice combo and the game lasted about 2 hours. This one will go out to NY with me.
Julie and I played Jaipur while eating dinner and drinking beer as we awaited Matthew and roommate Chris near the airport.
We played Codenames and Coup (twice) with Matthew and Chris during their visit. Coup was a nice find in the library at a coffee spot near Gleneden Beach.
Julie and I played Lanterns: The Harvest Festival while enjoying happy hour at the Salishan Lodge. Julie pulled this off the prize table at the gaming retreat and I’m glad she did.