Originally published at Unimatrix Two. You can comment here or there.

The Guru Trap is worse than the Dark Side. It is easy, seductive, and life-affirming. One can easily make all sorts of regrettable decisions without ever realizing it.

Let me supply a quote from the “Illuminatus!” trilogy by Shea and Wilson:

“That’s right,” Hagbard agreed. “I ( Read more... )

Originally published at Unimatrix Two. You can comment here or there.

In 2004, I left my hometown of Roanoke, VA behind to take a great IT job and build a new life for myself. The old life was pleasant but not really going much of anywhere. I don’t like stagnation, I don’t like living in a rut; if my near-fatal car accident over a decade before had ( Read more... )

Originally published at Unimatrix Two. You can comment here or there.


( Read more... )

Originally published at Unimatrix Two.

The past blasted me a couple of times this weekend. The charity site Bundle of Holding offered the old Traveller RPG books from 1981 as PDF for a giveaway price (through July 9th), and I discovered that D&D Classics will sell me the First Edition Dungeons and Dragons books in a similar downloadable form, ( Read more... )

Originally published at Unimatrix Two.

By the time April rolled around, I was pretty worried about several things. My savings were depleting and I hadn’t found a new job. Mom was in a rehab center in North Carolina 4 hours away from me because of her latest mini-stroke, and getting to see my girlfriend only every other weekend was becoming ( Read more... )

Originally published at Unimatrix Two. You can comment here or there.

Whether it be a fan con or a lifestyle event, from this day forward I will do everything in my power to make sure that every convention with which I am involved has an anti-harassment policy in place, well-publicized, and enforced. For decades, I have been under the impression ( Read more... )

Originally published at Unimatrix Two. You can comment here or there.

Yesterday, I saw a trailer for a Fox Network “comedy” in which a lady wore the Japanese schoolgirl outfit known as a fuku, or seifuku, and I was repulsed by the sight. I have friends who own seifuku costumes. Heck, I own one. Why was I so horrified?

I knew I liked looking at ( Read more... )

Originally published at Unimatrix Two. You can comment here or there.

In 1974, Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson created Dungeons and Dragons. Sometime around 1978, I acquired a copy, and my leisure time pursuits were changed forever. I owe the both of them a debt of gratitude I can never repay (and a debt of finance as well).

They made one mistake, ( Read more... )

Originally published at Unimatrix Two. You can comment here or there.

Today, the social media channels are abuzz with the ongoing story that Games Workshop got the e-book of M.C.A. Hogarth’s “Spots the Space Marine” pulled from Amazon on the dubious grounds that no one else is allowed to use “Space Marine” in an e-book. They may or may not have the ( Read more... )

I'm happy to see that my urge to create is growing strong again. While my anxieties are still getting in the way - I start panicking a bit every time I sit in front of the keyboard - I've discovered that music is an excellent self-medication for the problem. Doesn't seem to matter too much what the music is, though the panic will try to trick me ( Read more... )