It's Play week for my game design students. They voted for Slay the Princess, but Firewatch was such a close second we're going to carve out another week later in the semester to play that one also.

As a treat for myself, I have just ordered a warhammer. As one does.

My students in Visual Culture and Rhetoric this semester are feisty and creative. This gives me hope and joy.

We have reached the stage of life where I am incredibly excited about getting new socks.

My daughter is in her second year of college. Today, during her graphic design class, she played a game of "Cheese or Font." She became so animated that her smartwatch registerd the class activity as a high-stress workout. I love hearing these stories on our way home everyday.

Office is cleaned and organized, syllabi are finished, Blackboard portals are built and done. It's going to be a twenty-credit semester, but I've still managed to fit in some weekly writing time. Now to make sure I also keep fitting in lunch and weight lifting for my health/sanity.

Publication announcement! The two-volume collection on game genres is finally out today! Thanks to my co-editors @gerald-voorhees.bsky.social, @profmatthew.bsky.social, and @betsybrey.bsky.social for all the work and friendship. Thanks also to our excellent contributors for their time and energy!

Doing some writing today, and I have no idea why it's taken me this long in life to realize that Phil Collins might just be some of the best writing music there is.

I can't remember the last time a game made me laugh so hard as Dispatch.

Got all the holiday shopping done early this year. It's more fun shooping for my kids now that they are older and they want specific, nerdy things related to their interests. Also, all everyone really wants is the family tradition of a day at the bookstore followed by deep-dish pizza.

I think the highlight of my day has been having a conversation on this platform using memes and quotes from the movie Predator.

Anyone else having that non-specific end of semester anxiety? Everything is done, for the moment, but I keep looking for the things I'm forgetting...

Ordering a bunch of books to start a new thread of research around some long-running work. It's always exciting when following a new idea down the rabbit hole!

Heading into the holiday break with all of my grading finished, writing deadlines met, and personal obligations satisfied. Going to live in sweat pants for a week reading, playing some games, working on some new projects, and hanging out with my family. Also, there will be several soups made.

Academic friends, we're looking for a new Graphic Design colleague to join us in the Art and Design Program here at Grand View. It's a tenure-track position in a small, highly collaborative department with areas in Graphic Design, Studio Arts, and Game Design. www.paycomonline.net/v4/ats/web.p...

Watching my game capstone students collaborate to make really interesting work, and it reminds me why I love this job.

Keep thinking about this poster and how true it is. Mighht be time to hang it back up in my office.

Everyone around me is excited for Spoopy Season. Meanwhile, I'm over here cheering for soup season. Thinking of making some lasagne pesto soup this weekend.

Saw a student walking across campus today dressed as a Wookie. The kids are alright.

My son earned his Eagle Scout rank this week. This has been an adventure four years in the making. I'm incredibly proud of him and his dedication to his interests, but it's also a reminder that he's definitely getting older. Parenting is often bittersweet. I wish my father could have seen this.

Per one of my students: "Does the rapture count as an excused absence?"

Of all the things I thought I'd be buying in my late 40's, never did I imagine a golf cart on the list. And I don't play golf.

This has been a project long in the making, and evolving from several years of conversations with good friends and colleagues. I'm beyond proud to have worked with everyone to help bring these to life.

All those constitutional literalists about the second amendment of the last 20+ years have suddenly become highly invested in post-structural semantics when it comes to due process.

Took my son snowshoeing this weekend for one of his last scout merit badges. It's been a while since I did that myself, and I'm definitely feeling it in the arthritis today. It was worth every step for a good afternoon helping him get closer to his goals. Still gonna old-man grumble today...

Of all the things that exhaust me working in higher education, the emotional labor of aggressively angry students is perhaps the most taxing. I could not have predicted how much of my teaching life would be so similar to working as a bouncer.

Looks like Murder by Death will be playing in Iowa this summer. Been a while since I last went to a concert, so maybe it's time again.

As the laws about curriculum continue to emerge, I was told by one angry parent that the inclusion of Rene Descartes and Erving Goffman in my class reading was 'leftist woke propaganda." Let that settle in for a laugh before the uncomfortable scope of this stupidity makes us all more angry.

My article "Sex as Reward in Games" can be found among great company in the recently published Handbook of Sex and Sexuality in Games Studies by Bloomsbury. You can find more details and buy the book here: www.bloomsbury.com/uk/bloomsbur... (if you're interested in reading my article dm me).

Syllabi finished, Blackboard pages updated, Spring 2025 is ready to roll. I'm not ready, but the semester is, so here we go I guess?

2025’s #GenerationAnalog will be July 15-16, online, free, open to public, with the theme PUNK Abstracts due: March 31, 2025 (750 words) Acceptance by: May 1, 2025 (Past acceptance rate: 30-50%)

Holiday breaks mean a chance to catch up on all the work I can't do during the regular semester. Today I'm finishing the bathroom remodel. Got the new shower installed and drywall placed/textured. Now to paint and install the new fixtures.

I am currently more potato than human.

Hosting the holidays this year. 25lbs of pulled pork, 15lbs of garlic-parmesan mashed potatoes, and bacon-roasted green beans. Assorted pies for desert. Gonna put everyone to sleep with a food coma before they even get to open presents.

Did our annual tradition of going book shopping on Christmas Eve and getting a book for everyone. Now to settle in with some good tea, and a new William Gibson novel!

I think one of my favorite things about being a parent has been to hand both of my children the physical books that I used to read at their age, and watch them fall in love with those stories as well.

Having midwestern academic thoughts about never going to another conference again if I can't drive there. So, anywhere within 24 hours of home.

Academia keeps informing me that people are reading my dissertation, and all I can say is I'm sorry. No, seriously. I'm sorry. I was young and still learning how to write. 🤣

Large pot of pasta fagioli on the stove. The house is filling with the smells of garlic, cumin, and crushed red pepper. Normally, Midwesterners are happy for winter because they can put a pot of soup our chili in the garage overnight. It might be so cold we will freeze the soup solid instead.

All seven syllabi for spring finished, with a couple of days to spare.

Fell on a patch of ice. I'm fine, and uninjured, but I think I cracked the ground. I don't bounce quite like I used to...

First shoveling of the day done. Cleared about 6 inches of snow. Will go again once the snow stops later today.

5 of 7 syllabi for spring finished. I'll wrap up the last two tomorrow.

We live near Perry, Iowa. Last night, before bed, my 14 year-old son asked me "How do I fight back if someone gets in my classroom?" I'm still sick to my stomach from that conversation.

If y'all have not read Sarah Pinsker's "A Song for a New Day" you are missing out. It might be the most wonderfully hopeful anthem about the power of music in building community and the virtue of raising your voice as a vehicle of resistance. It's definitely punk as fuck.

Sabbatical is officially over. It was incredibly productive and rewarding. I'll post about pubs and forthcoming work once I get the "official" status for them. In the meantime, I've got two weeks until spring semester and I'm teaching 21 credits. So, time to finish course prep.

One of my favorite parts of any writing project is finding new music for writing soundtracks/playlists. New tunes are always a good time!

Currently thinking about grinding up lozenges to use as a glaze for the thanksgiving ham if it will help get rid of this damn cough.

My wife is on a bus with our daughter and the entire school band/color guard traveling to New York. They are going to march and play in the Veteran's Day Parade. My wife is giving me all the updates of the trip and the drama, and it's hysterical.

Took my daughter for a campus visit today to see if a school would be a good match. The professor we met with spent the entire time bashing student work, complaining about faculty who left ten plus years ago, and lamenting that nobody cares about the field any longer. Guess we won't apply there!