February Linkdump

Grammar of comic book lettering
This is the sort of detail that I read and try to memorize. I don't know what that says about me, but I'm afraid it might be bad.

Penn gets proselytized
My ground rule for evangelicals in America is, "Tell them you follow Jesus, and then don't be crazy." Here's a video of Penn telling a story about that guy.



Water that kills salmonella
According to the L.A. times, it's not too good to be true, but you'll think it is.

Kids these days: any other quests?

Ran an intro game of D&D for a couple of boys tonight, ages 12 and 10. I enjoy presenting D&D to brand new players, because they haven't been trained in roleplaying game-think yet.

When you've played enough of these demanding, complex games, you learn to see the game system first, and think in its framework. It's like learning art on a computer. Fantastically versatile programs exist to help you, but you wind up imagining inside the program's technical limitations.

So the D&D naif brings a jarringly unexpected set of assumptions to the table. (One woman I played with, who had a perfectly competent character, spent an entire session hiding in a cabinet. Because holy crap, people are shooting guns and fire blasts outside! Better to just stay safe.)

This has been my standard thinking for a long time about new players. But tonight, these kids tricked me by bringing a different jarringly unexpected set of assumptions to the table. Having already played the crap out of Final Fantasy and half a dozen other console RPGs, these kids were not D&D naifs. They were tabletop naifs. Drawing on unmediated experience to inform their behavior was strange territory.

Excerpts:

Me: If you run out of hit points you fall unconscious.
Kid: What's that?
Me: You fall unconscious every day. What's it like then?

Kid: How much does a backpack hold?
Me: You've got a backpack at home, right? It holds that much.

The standout of the evening came after presenting entirely unsubtle clues that the Mad Alchemist's cave awaited exploration, and that there might be treasure. The boys then decided to ask around town to see if there were "any other quests." Thanks to computer games, they (quite reasonably) assumed there would be a handful of townsfolk loitering, with various problems to be solved. They would get to pick the most appealing one.

Also in a paean to overcaution:

• Long minutes were spent on Hide skill practice, followed by confirming Spot checks to see how well hidden they were.
• Rabbinical attention was paid to the number of arrows carried, and recovered, after combat.
• The sorcerer brought 20 torches, and the dwarf purchased flint and tinder for firestarting, despite the fact that he can see in the dark.
• They purchased a 10-foot pole and a mirror, and used them frequently, in ways that would make Gary Gygax proud.
  

I enjoy attempting this sort of thing, but every time, I am humbled. Improvisation is a hard skill, and understanding your own expectations is at least half the experience.

Movie: Pineapple Express

Pineapple Express
(official site | imdb)

I like Seth Rogen and James Franco. I've liked them since Freaks and Geeks. I wanted very much to like this movie.

And it's not that I disliked it. I just didn't like it like I'd like to like it. The movie was funny in certain places, and the action was fine. It was acceptable, and good in some places. Huey Lewis did the movie's theme song.

The movie relies on a sly familiarity with drug culture that I, and a majority of other viewers, don't have. On the commentary track, they discussed how the studio was not really into this movie, and I can see why. There's no clear audience. It's billed as a stoner/action movie. It pulls that hybrid off, but you're left wondering: Who asked for this?

In the same way that I still think well of Cop Rock, I appreciate that they tried something unconventional. But that's all I've got. I'll try to remember to look up Superbad and Knocked Up later this year to see these guys in their element, in a better-defined niche.

Movie: The Duchess

The Duchess
(official site | imbd)

M loves a period drama, especially when they involve spirited women making difficult choices! So The Duchess was a shoo-in.

The movie sort of meandered in the way that historical adaptions can... life seldom makes a great arc. The short version: Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire in the late 1700s, has to put up with a lot of crap.

Kiera Knightley's face can do a lot more talking than some mouths. Ralph Fiennes has a tricky job of playing a guy who genuinely isn't interested. Tough job selling that and staying in the movie! But he did it.

Movie: Run Fatboy Run

Run Fatboy Run
(official site | imdb)

The Valentine's Day romcom of choice was RFBR. Simon Pegg is an enjoyable guy to watch. David Schwimmer -- glad to see he's still getting work. Hank Azaria -- glad to see him doing something outside Simpsons work. Dylan Moran as cousin Gordon stole the show, as supporting comedic actors can.

The movie itself? Oh! Well, fun but not spectacular. If I gave stars, I'd give it a few, but not a lot.

Changing blog focus for fun and profit

Who's There? is a pdf by Seth Godin about blogs and using them for business purposes and gaining readership. It's long, but not overly long. In colonial times, they would have called it a "pamphlet."

Godin boils blogs down to three types:

cat blogs – about your life and whatever happens to you
boss blogs – directed at a defined group with an intent to communicate to/among them
viral blogs – meant to spread ideas, written for strangers

I'm not sure those comprise an ideal taxonomy. What is dooce.com? Or kottke.org? These examples seem to straddle all three categories. But sans better alternatives, I'll use Godin's terms.

Quickthinking.net is currently a cat blog. I’d like to think that QT is at least an above-average cat blog, but without data to confirm or deny, that thinking is more accurately classified as “hoping.”

To become Internet famous and stop having to work, I'll need a viral blog. To incorporate 1,000 True Fans, it'll also need to be a boss blog.

I don't think QT is this viral/boss hybrid. I'm not sure yet whether I'd change it if I knew how. But I will need some bloggy Web presence to pull off the IF dream. The thing I haven't discerned yet is: what do I care enough about to become useful doing?

This is the essence of building a following on the Internet. You must be useful. I would hate to think that I wasn't useful yet in life. But again, we run into that think/hope disparity.

Still thinking. (And hoping.) If you have anything to add, leave a comment or email me.

Grist for the creative mill via Pixar

Randy Nelson from Pixar talks about what they look for in a hire. Great info for anybody doing anything creative.

Time for a dog picture.

I took Autumn to the park on Saturday, and somebody had built a snow fire hydrant. Ha ha! Great idea!

I wanted to get Autumn's picture with it. But immediately after roaming into range, she leaned on it and knocked it over.

Look what our city budget cuts have wrought.

Self-motivation, reflection on

Self-motivation is hard. I forget that sometimes. The fact that I fail much more often than I succeed at it -- that’s actually how it works in life.

Religion in the cold months

I’ve been on the outs with God since Christmas. At the Christmas Eve service, there was a lot of talk about faith, and I remember thinking, “You know, I just don’t have that much faith. I don’t think I believe in this.” I find Jesus annoyingly unknowable for the living incarnation of God -- the ostensibly accessible member of the Godhead.

I’m journeyman-level at Jesus worship by now, so I’ve had enough experience not to get thrown by this. Crises of faith aren’t cheap, but they don’t have to break the bank.

I felt relieved to admit it. As a journeyman follower, I also know by now to follow the relieved feelings. It’s a signal that I’ve been over-trying somewhere; taking it easy is probably a better path.

So I haven’t been working at being spiritual for the last few weeks. I haven’t wanted to go to public meeting or cell group, and sometimes we/I go anyway, but sometimes it doesn’t happen. You know, okay.

A frequent bugbear in my spirituality is the seeming arbitrariness of prayer. Sometimes God grants you your requests, and sometimes God does not, and sometimes there is a silent void that does not appear to acknowledge that you said anything, or that there is a you even making requests. It’s that last one that gets me.

Our heat has been on the fritz for... well, since we’ve owned the house. This winter, the furnace has added a twist by working only intermittently. The heating guy comes out at least once a week to tinker with it, but nothing sticks. Money saved on gas bills is literal cold comfort.

I just bundled up and stuck it out at home today. I don’t like it, but I can distract myself. However, M’s cell has been meeting at our house lately, and a 50 degree living room is poor hosting material.

I took Autumn for a walk before cell group started, and while I was out I didn’t choose to pray. But I thought about praying. I thought that if I were to pray, I would pray for the heat to come on at our house, so M’s cell could meet there, and she could enjoy a warm house.

When I got home, several people were in the living room, and M informed me that the heat had come on. It just started working again. Like it does sometimes.

There’s no moral here. Just another small point of reference in trying to figure out how to live with and worship a God who claims to be love, yet seems to act arbitrarily. I want to understand. I do not want to reject, or to shrug and accept. I want to understand.