Last night's game night I actually got to run out a couple of mine. First up was suburbia where a math major who had never played wiped the floor with us (came in last). Then Mysterium where the ghost was a teen girl & I failed to grok the logic or make my case. Then Hanabi, to go out with a bang. 😁

I just heard the best analogy for the travesty playing out on the Late Night stage... "Saying Jimmy Kimmel's firing is going to be the final straw for Trump and MAGA is like saying 'this is the device that will finally get that pesky roadrunner.'" And it applies to every new scandal or atrocity.

Long ago I learned in math that negating a negative makes it positive. Since the current regime has designated "Antifa" a terrorist organization, that makes the United States anti-anti-fascist. In other terms, -(-fascist) -> fascist. I don't recall signing up to live in the Fourth Reich, folks.

The cognitive dissonance of seeing a Minnesotan with a Confederate flag tattoo... 0_o

Ruin a book by adding Tom Clancy's to the title Tom Clancy's The Ethical Slut

Made board game night at Tower Games again after missing it for Defcon last week. Tied for 3rd place (out of 4) in Tigris & Euphrates [https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/42/tigris-and-euphrates] & missed 1st (of 5) by $6 in Modern Art [https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/40381/modern-art-card-game]

If you see this, post a robot 🤖

www.instagram.com/reel/DNjhfs6... A @endeavorance.camp video that hit my IG feed today reminds me of a PSA I saw back in college... www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrrA... How did I wind up in a timeline where satirical comedy failed because they couldn't come up with anything more bizarre than reality?

Just wrapped up @bethesda.net's The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered. Much better than I remembered. Played the original back in college, barely got Martin to Cloud Ruler Temple before getting lost in Guild & side quests and burning out before finishing it. Now 1 of only 3 100% games on Steam.

After DefCon 33 on top of the FFXIV Fan Fest 10th anniv. event 2 years ago, I feel pretty proficient at navigating the Las Vegas Convention Center. But my feet & legs are not happy as day 5 of my Vegas visit wears on. Looking forward to leaving the heat behind and returning to Minneapolis tomorrow.

In Vegas for DefCon staying at the Conrad. Asked for a view of the Sphere if they had one. Got this instead... I almost threw up a little. Curtains have remained shut since. You just can't escape the Pumpkin Pedofuhrer...

Last night's board game night was taken up by Atlantis: Exodus. Interteresting, complex, and entertaining. Came in 2nd by 3 points after splitting my focus between training priests into oracles to generate apotheosis and building a giant fleet to sail to safety. boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/42...

And now the unboxing of our life begins... well, it really began last Thursday one Civic-load at a time, but today Pods 2 and 3 were dropped, so we have all of our critical furniture again. And the grandfather clock survived!

I find it interesting how much of the media seems to be ignoring the fact that the CEO of Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, estimated to be the largest player in buying up single family homes & squeezing the market for main street Americans, was a victim. You leave people with nothing to lose...

Drop your 10/10 game. No context needed.

Putting this new computer together is making me feel old and out of touch. Doing the same things I did 6 years ago is causing way to much rework. GPU now so big it needs a support bracket, time to unmount the mobo... Liquid cooler needs a back bracket, time to unmount the GPU & mobo... etc, etc...

Caught the new Superman at a matinee showing Friday afternoon. Really enjoyed it. I remember someone on Instagram mentioning that David Corenswet has big Brenden Fraser energy, and it was true in the best possible way. Great to see an earnest do-gooder Superman again. 8.5/10, will watch again.

Went to see the "Murder Night in Blood Forest!" @nightvaleradio.bsky.social live show at @thefitzgerald.bsky.social theater last night. @cecilbaldwiniii.bsky.social, @symphonysanders.bsky.social, @happierman.bsky.social, & @disparition.bsky.social did not disappoint! Al Olender was great!

The wife has been jonesing to play a Shadowrun TTRPG. I came up with a concept whimsical enough to get me interested in running it. I put together a flyer to hang up at the local FLGS & she gives me the side-eye like I'm cracked over the effort... 90 minutes with Stable Diffusion & MS Word.

My Instagram feed is filling with posts that the Epstein files and the near certainty Trump didn't confine his sexual abuse to adult women are going to shake up MAGA - it won't. These people have let church-folk & sports coaches rape their kids for decades, ANGH for their Fanta Funny Uncle.

As of today I have developed an objective measurement of what makes a kitchen too small or crowded. If there is not a single surface in the kitchen capable of holding the full panoply required to make a single ham and cheese sandwich without swapping for space, the area is insufficient.

And there goes the first sale not based on existing relationships. One more milestone on the checklist.

Life is wild. I saw a post on LinkedIn by a former coworker who was elected mayor at a young age a few years back just appointed to serve as Chair of a regional board. I remember when I had to have my team brick & replace their company phone when they were a PR flack and drunkenly lost it at a bar.

Tonight ran through Vivid Memories, Citadels, and Clank. Board game night is good practice for remembering names (which I'm still bollocks at), as I've played with at least several new people every week.

Our house in Arizona is under contract, and we just signed a two year lease for a long-term rental in Minnesota. I'm looking forward to it, even if it does mean more moving so soon. Both the property and the neighborhood are beautiful, the school has good ratings, and the kiddo is super excited.

So we got my daughter into a Montressori summer school. After the first week they said 'it's not a good fit'. But they wouldn't give any detail about what behavior caused that decision so we don't even know what to work on. And yet we want to defund public schools to give these people more money...

Game night this past Monday was Flip 7 (boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/42...) and a modded Gaslands (boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/18...) to invoke Twisted Metal. I learned that though things don't really get going until about 5, at 5:15 the groups have mostly formed and you will likely be waiting.

Smallest town hall I have ever seen on the way back to Minneapolis. Town shed? Population has to be single digits to fit in there.

The decision to relocate to Minnesota keeps coming up aces. First holiday in 20 years that I didn't have to worry about my phone blowing up and yanking me away. And kiddo caught her very first fish, which I believe is a yellow perch. Got a small-mouth bass as well, but my phone had died.

Today's mood courtesy of Sir Terry Pratchett. Pride float was 3 spaces behind the fascist (Republican Party/MAGA) float. 'Make America Glorify God Again' my ass. They've followed Satan so far down the road to Hell they couldn't even catch a glimpse of Jesus in the rear view mirror if they wanted to.

Sunrise over Island Lake. Wife's aunt invited us to their lakeside cabin for 4th of July weekend. Kiddo wants to learn how to fish. There is a non-zero chance I make it through the weekend without getting a fishhook in the face.

Back to Tower Games for their board game night. Tonight was Hues and Cues, which reminded me of Codenames, and Viticulture which was reminiscent of Agricola. Both fun. And a half-dozen new names to remember.

After Saturday night, I now understand why the master bedroom in this rental is in the basement. Excitement! Hearing tornado sirens for the first time outside of a movie theater is not a happy experience.

Finally made it to local independent book store Magers & Quinn (www.magersandquinn.com) & they look like they can replace a majority of my Amazon spend. Parking is problematic, but the area seemed joyously LGBTQIA+ friendly. Some of the nearby picturesque neighborhoods shouted law/pol/med money.

Actually made it to the Tower Games' Open Board Game Night this week. Spent about 4 hours there - teaching a couple of folks Citadels and playing two rounds, then joining a 4-player game of Ginzo Retro Cafe (boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/42...), which was interesting and fun. I have found my people.

Three days ago... m.economictimes.com/news/interna... Nigjtwatch hasn't had a non-maintenance flight since the wake of 9/11. Today.... www.nytimes.com/live/2025/06... They are willingly courting nuclear war. What happens when this escalates to where Israel feels comfortable using a nuke on Iran?

T + 13 days and the last of the boxes for the rental are unpacked. Mise en place. One more trip to the storage unit to drop off the last few items we don't need or don't have space for, and the place will be suitable for company.

Beatboxing taken to the next level by WING... 😮😲👏 youtu.be/p9jRTnUZRnw?... Reminds me of Michael Winslow (of Police Academy and Spaceballs fame, for those old enough to remember) doing Led Zepplin's Whole Lotta Love. youtu.be/1HHMA1Dpo5M?...

What's your sign?

While logically I understand that the last 2 decades of office work has stripped my farmers tan and made my family's Irish heritage *very* apparent, I haven't really internalized what that means. I sunburned through SPF 50 while staying mostly in the shade taking the kiddo to the park for 2.5 hours.

Ok you guys, what's the best book, movie, or TV show your dad introduced you to? My dad was big on horseshit & gunsmoke (western) & military thrillers. Book - Team Yankee: A Novel of World War III by Harold Coyle Movie - Aliens (space military thriller) TV Show - Star Trek: TOS (space western)

I was going up I-94 along the west bank of the Mississippi and saw a really cool cathedral-looking building that turned out to be the Basilica of St. Mary. They allow self-guided tours if you call ahead, so I think I'm going to check it out. Assuming I don't burst into flames crossing the threshold.

"Nae king! Nae quin! Nae laird! Nae master! We willna' be fooled again!"

Took the sprog to the Mall of America today. Checked out the Museum of Illusions (moimallofamerica.com), the Lego store, & @gamesbyjames.bsky.social for a copy of Cat In The Box. Also hit the Log Flume in the Nickelodeon Universe. She got 1 Lego set, but had to tell both her & myself "no" a lot.

Day 4, a 4 hour straight shot to Minneapolis.

Day 3 is starting quietly... I don't trust it. Target is Des Moines, Iowa. If we get there early enough and have it in us, we'll push on the extra ~200 miles to Minneapolis.

While I know the sample size is insignificant, based on the consistency of my experiences 18 years ago crossing New Mexico to get from Virginia to Arizona, and then last night and today going to Minnesota, Florida is wet Florida and New Mexico is dry Florida.

Day two. Got wife's car reloaded only to find the dolly has a flat. Waiting on Uhaul roadside assistance. This has become a modern-day reverse Oregon Trail. I will consider it victory if the wife and I reach Minneapolis without dying of dysentery. Today's target is Witcheta, Kansas.

It is 130 am. Too tired for full post. Summary - jacknifed junk hauler, car-b-que, Rav4 escapes dolly and rolls away, Albuquerque is a shithole & locks the bathrooms at 10pm because of junkies + woman kicked out of car in her undies, & getting a Uhaul w/ towed car out of a narrow dead end street.

Next stop, Santa Fe.