Wednesday, December 29, 2021

Christmas 2021 Postscripted

Paige mugs for the camera as she explores a fun lock-and-key doll house.

Even Ewan shows interest.

I feel like I might be glimpsing her adult face in this shot.

Always the serious Jedi.

Ever stuffing her face with bread.

Suited for a Christmas walk.

She is too!

A little game time with our new family title: King of Tokyo Dark Edition

And Gran'pa playing as "Alienoid" takes the cake this round! 

Oh, and "Matrix 4" was good.

Found a few minutes to set up the old kit and wail on it with the wee ones. 

Ewan took to it very naturally; the focus written on his face.

But it was Paige who surprised me with her ambidexterity.

Even got Ewan jumping around to the beat!

Mommy laid down a very measured beat, too.

Here's a little promo reel:

Tuesday, November 30, 2021

Lego Builder Kiddos

Mashiro-chan shows off her witch build (assisted by Daddy) still brewing from October!

Keito-kun shows off his cold-weather-ready Minecraft and Star Wars builds!

Friday, November 26, 2021

The Fears of Writing What's Next

I have been remiss. How long has it been since I let only my words dwell here (or there!) unaided by some other impetus? Horribly, remarkably remiss.

I need to get back to writing for myself, if for nobody else. There are many doors still open before me, but I've yet to do more than peek through a few for fear of walking through a single one. I've yet to decide how satisfied I will be once I do. It feels almost like trying to predict the rain. When will the drought end?

I've been happy with the endeavors and creative ends I've started, and met, and (sometimes) finished. Many of them (work, game design, story writing/editing) have involved serious stints of content creation and word-smithing. But, I guess I'm just anxious about what's next? Do I have the time and energy to devote to it? What if I get into it and get bored with it and then want to start something else? Is that time wasted or spent if you don't finish something? Growth, maybe, but at what cost? Growth at any cost is tantamount to neglect of something else that I won't want to be remiss on at this stage in my life. When we choose a path, we are simultaneously saying yes to the one and no to all the others in that moment. It's not a science, it's an art, but an art that has a scientific (measurable) effect on us and the world around us.

You know that feeling when all the time in the world seems to be running out very quickly? The days stack up. An empty cup needs refilling. I'd like to think I would never wish for a time when I could have a DeLorean equipped with a flux-capacitor, but there's the thought!

I think this is more about the fear of not knowing. I might as well rename this piece, "The Fears of Being Human." That would be far less honest, however, and evoke a somewhat more cringey response upon a critical read of the content. So, let's leave it at that.

Sunday, October 31, 2021

Woody, Jessie, Sally, and Billy Lo

The Roundup Gang rides again!

Or is he Han Solo masquerading as Woody?

Cutie-pie

A colorful trio


A kickass trio

Happy Halloween!

Thursday, September 9, 2021

Escaping the Smoke in Santa Cruz

Where are we? Why is the floor slanted? And what are we looking at?

It's the Mystery Spot! The mystery lies in the horizon line. Note the parallel lines outside the far door and under the oddly hanging wrecking ball.

Now, Ewan's about the same size as the girl.

Now, he's not!

Cracking open a geode.

Mmm! Them's good eats! (Don't try this at home, kids.)

The only mystery about this sweet treat is whether the candy is the sucker, or the person who bought this, another smaller sucker (embedded with ants), and a geode all for $31 is…? But, hey, that's a pretty good deal for a spot of happiness.

"Spin that wheel!"

"She's flying over treetops!"

Combo takedown!

Gaming fundamentals.

Zappin' aliens. BOOM!

"Don't cross the streams!"

Zap! Zap! Pew! Pew!

Wait till you taste it, kid.

Paige casting a spell.

Pink, sandy toes under America.

"Wait-whuh? I can't feel my—"

"NOOOOOOOO!"

Crafty little mugs!

Bonafide beach babe.

And even without the rides…

A lot of fun was had! Thanks, Boardwalk!

Sunday, August 29, 2021

BTTF FTW!

After 3 straight devastating losses in our decades-spanning DeLorean-based quest, we dusted BTTF: Dice Through Time off again for a 3-player attempt on "This is Heavy!" (standard difficulty).

We got off to a VERY good start. The dice were singing, we were completing events and incurring minimal damage to the space-time continuum, and not getting too pestered by time paradoxes (which Ewan's hand points out above).

Here we are at the most critical point! Not too bad, right? "Outatime" marker is far from game over, and we've either returned or picked up all 15 items required to win on standard difficulty.

And here's our final game state! A satisfying team win! And for an almost 6-year-old kindergartener who was just getting over a little summer bug, Ewan was hands-down our MVP.