My 5 year old son, Sam, has his very first T-ball practice this week. He’s very excited about it. We were at Wal-Mart, buying baseball gloves, when I realized I was actually far more anxious than happy about this. Sports and I have not had a particularly good relationship over the years. I was very […]
It Only Works On The Weak-Minded (Or The Unprepared)
Once upon a time, I was at karate class just minding my own business, when a 10-year-old girl wearing a blue belt walks up to me with a question. I’d been a black belt for some time, so this was not an unusual occurrence. I was expecting for her to ask for help with her kata or how to do roundhouse kicks or something like that. Instead, she asks me simply, “Sensei, what’s a Jedi mind trick?”
Tae Con Do – The Ancient Art of Convention Self-Defense
As most of you are no doubt aware, Gen Con begins in a matter of days. I can’t go this year, but it is one of my very favorite times of the year. (I’m not sure if I like it or Christmas more, but Gen Con has a slight edge in that it doesn’t play music that annoys the crap out of me for three months beforehand.) It is the most concentrated unbridled gaming fun I get to have in any given solar year, and I like to strap on my ceremonial fanny pack and let my hair all the way down for four days. That being said, bad things can and do happen to convention-goers. There are people out there who attend conventions and other public events to prey on the unwitting. It behooves all of us to be aware of our surroundings and to make informed, safe choices to protect ourselves.
How To Stop A Bully
That news story about the little girl who got picked on for having a Star Wars bottle last week broke my heart. I was picked on mercilessly from pretty much the first day of school until I got my high school diploma. I don’t want that for my boy. This is, sadly, not an uncommon story for us geeks. What do we do?
Olympic Confessions
For me, the Olympics have always had a different kind of special significance. For whatever reason, the Olympics get me to give a crap about sports, if only for a couple weeks.
With Karate (And Psionics) I’ll Kick Your Ass
Monks are Psionic. (Yes, “Martial Striker” was half wrong). As per the Design & Development article that accompanied it, Ki is a dead power source (though some third party products have already tried to use it). Personally, I have no problem with this. On multiple occasions, I attempted to run campaigns with an eastern flavor, and banned most (or all) arcane and divine classes, relying primarily on psionic and ki powered characters. Conceptually, they always seemed very close together: an internal energy source with fantastic abilities powered by intense discipline.
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