Thank you everyone for reposting this! I'm definitely still looking for work lol, and PAXU was definitely a huge help for that too.

Happy picky eaters awareness day for all those who celebrate.

Had a fascinating revelation this PAXU, which is probably not the one you're expecting from someone who took "fake it 'till you make it" a little too far. I'm never gonna be an "A-lister" in the board game world. At least, not in theory.

Pitch: Obra Dinn but about social anxiety nightmares. Set at a party or a work event filled with people you’ve never met before. You can use a magic timepiece to show a snapshot of exactly when and where you were introduced. It insists that you should be able to deduce their name. You cannot.

Going to PAXU? Come try passive aggressive home decor! Or not. It's cool. Whatever. #paxunplugged2025 #boardgame #tabletopgame #gamingconvention

Update, no earlier flights. Still en route to airport and will just be a smidgen late. At least we got a sick beat.

❗ATTENTION❗ - I have an important update regarding my attendance at PAX Unplugged, 2025. #PAXU

Heyyyyy @stoichamster.bsky.social 👀

Nothing more immediately humbling than releasing videos claiming to be an amazing videographer only to realize the video you've been editing at 1/4th resolution so your computer doesn't catch fire actually had auto-focus on and the footage constantly is changing focus and it's too late to fix it.

Finally sharing my sizzle reel! If you're in need of video production work (or pretty much anything creative), hit me up, esp. at #PAXU! I don't ask for this much, but if you're in the #boardgames industry and like what I do, consider sharing this! I'm looking to book up 2026! linktr.ee/jcw.gay

If you'd like photography or videography of your table at the IGNM, hit me up! Good photos are great to have for socials and future promotions!

I am frothing at the mouth over the new steam hardware, my brand-loyal, consumer sleeper agent was activated the second they announced a new steam controller.

As I start gearing up to launch my little video production business (JCW.GAY Productions), there's a lot of worries I have: money, energy, time, etc. But the one that I keep thinking about the most is so aggravatingly annoying: the name.

if someone hits me with a pronounced "HOWEVER" during a rules teach i start salivating like pavlov's fuckin loser

I think this just confirms that Suzanne knows how to use a knife without remorse.

You think a depressed person could make this? I don't think so.

Dang, another day, another morning where I didn't wake up next to the eclectic billionaire who I met by chance at a food court that then decided to support me in my journey predominantly financially but also romantically. Bummer.

Person: (recommends a thing) Me, cheerfully: "I'll add it to the list!" The list:

So, @factorio.com, it's WAY better when you go for the "Lazy Bastard" Achievement. I love the game, don't get me wrong, but during this run I've figured out that the reason I've dropped the game in the past was 100% because allowing hand crafting at all is a terrible design choice. 🧵

I'm sure some authors write out elaborate backstories for their characters. Meanwhile I stumble across this in my outline for a story I was working on: The main character is your typical person doing person things in city place.

Oh hey, I totally forgot to share that I did the main video for this one! Aaaand, huge congrats on fully funding as well! Go check out the page and give it a look 😁✨

Oh hey, I did music for this! Go check it out 😁✨

The golden rule: do unto others as you’d have them do unto you, but if the rule on a card conflicts with this rule, follow the rules on the card

I had a bit of a mental breakdown yesterday as I realized @blueprincegame.bsky.social, a game I loved, had been wasting my time for 80+ hours, and that I wasn't enjoying it anymore. And it finally clicked why I had SUCH a strong response: Playing Blue Prince felt like my old abusive relationship.

I've been re-reading my old blog posts, Proto-Typing on BGG, and I stumbled across the line "So what do I, the arbiter of correct, think of this?" And good lord am I just tickled by that. Good job, past-me.

Dang, that's a hell of a question. Do I handle the decisions at... Myself? Do any of us? Who truly is in control of our own destiny?

I have so, so many just... Far too many opinions on Blue Prince that I'm outlining a multi-hour guide video and video essay... There's no way I actually put the time and effort into writing this out fully and producing it, right? ...right? 😥💦

Love how this one came together! Go give it a look! #boardgames

Y'all I'm so tempted:

I seriously can't thank everyone enough for all the love How to Teach has gotten the past year. We're over 1k subscribers, the channel is doing great, we've got new episodes coming out, and I'm able to afford rent. Life is really, really good. Here's to 29 🥂💙

QA testers are just like everyone else in the world, they put their pants on -1 leg at a time.

Hot ADHD/Anxiety trick! If you get anxious waiting on replies, if your messaging app has it, just archive/hide someone's chat after you send a message. Once it's out of sight, you stop worrying about it, and then it's a pleasant surprise if they respond.

(phone makes any noise) Me, like a demon: WHO DARES TO SUMMON ME!?

I did the thing, please clap. #boardgames #shelfie

I see stuff like this and my brain immediately enters early-onset ADHD hyper focus where it thinks it can do anything and starts coming up with plans on how to make a wizard game with this, and it's like... Calm down. You can put the ideas in your notes app as a treat, and then get back to work.

Man, even with better planning I still have three projects crashing down at the same time 🙃

CW: Sexual Assault As someone who went through a situation that is comparable only a week or two ago, I wish I had heard this kind of verbiage describing the situation so I could've realized how better to handle the situation, both in the moment and afterwards.

Most people wake up in a cold sweat because of a nightmare, or they came up with a genius invention, or religious experience. Meanwhile my brain wakes me up in a cold sweat to tell me that hammocks are the opposite of weighted blankets. It is 6AM 😑

"My blender of a brain produce[s] an answer smoothie" is probably the realest way I've ever described my thought process for anything.

Some photos from my photo walk the other day. #photography

There was one board game trivia question tonight, which is to say I only got one trivia question correct tonight.

Me: "So you'll eat a gummy candy if it's in the shape of a fruit?" My autism: "Or bear, yes." Me: "And any other shape is an-" My autism: "An abomination, yes."

As always, I'm super proud of the latest Kickstarter video I've put together but no matter how much I love it there's always a million things I'd love to change or fix or tweak. Done > perfect, just gotta keep telling myself that.

Filming stuff, filming stuff, filming stuff...

This will be the one The haiku that's not meta God fucking damn it

Well, flights been delayed like 6 hours, time to ponder the Pringle jellyfish in the Indiana Airport.

So! I'm gonna share this for those who might feel the same thing here at #GenCon EVERY convention, after it starts, usually at the end of a random day, my anxiety flares up, and I feel like everyone hates me and blah blah blah. It happens so often that I've now started to recognize the pattern.

Want to see some video production of mine? The new how to play video I put together for @solisgamestudio.bsky.social's Massive-Verse Fighting Card Game is up! Go give it a looksie! games.solisgamestudio.com/MassiveVerse...

Paging @derekbgayle.bsky.social that a new arcade machine popped up in my local Round1. The godzilla in the middle spins like a ballerina music box.

En route to #GenCon and I'm already feeling like I forgot twelve things, this is not a good sign.