I lost one of my high school buddies recently.

I met Mark through some organized wargaming activity back in the day, and a half dozen of us quickly formed an inseparable pack that lasted for years, with perhaps another dozen occasional co-conspirators.

He was quick-witted, charismatic, and a mischievous instigator of the highest order, probably ( Read more... )

This year’s birthday wasn’t the greatest piece of work I’ve ever experienced. Woke up with a sore throat that presaged the cold I’d deal with for the following weeks. Made the usual pilgrimage to Foxwoods (where I lost for the first time in three years) and visit to Purgatory Chasm, which was cold and grey but pleasant enough, then a big ( Read more... )

Last year at this time, I reported back from my first Buddhist retreat, CIMC’s “Sandwich Retreat”, so called because it has all-day sessions on two consecutive weekends, and three-hour sessions every weekday evening in between. If you care, last year’s length summary can be found here.

It’s now been a week since this year’s Sandwich Retreat, and ( Read more... )

Back in high school, I hung out with an interesting crowd. Among our pursuits was wargaming, and we’d occasionally go over to the local game store in the evening for a session of Diplomacy or maybe some Napoleonic or medieval miniatures.

The local gaming store was run by Hal, an aging veteran who’d been partially deafened in the war. Hal was the ( Read more... )