Sandbox for the future

Eve Online interceptor in stationIn Sandbox, Eve is King

Eve Online has been my main go to game for the last five years. It is arguably the biggest and best sandbox game ever.

It has evolved my gaming interest such that I compare everything else to it. To limit it with the label “game” seems a disservice, but that I think is just because it is at the cutting edge of where entertainment is headed.

Why should anyone really care about a game?

I would argue that Eve has the best virtual economy in the world. I think working within in it and studying it provides real world value. I feel like playing the Eve Market has taught me more about real world economics than any economics class I took in high-school or college.

Continue reading Sandbox for the future

Son Of Truth, Father Of Lies

Jeanne d'Arc true nameTrue story

There is a gilded statue of Joan of Arc that my son sees everyday from his school bus.

She crowns a roundabout astride a horse and was given to Portland to honor our soldiers of the Great War.

He asks, and I tell him the truth.

She was a religious fanatic who was burned alive.

He wants to know more, and I struggle with how to expand. We haven’t had the religion conversation yet. I decide it can wait until he learns there isn’t an actual Santa Claus that comes down the chimney, an Easter Bunny that hides plastic eggs, or a tooth fairy that buys his teeth while he sleeps. So I distract with another topic.

Continue reading Son Of Truth, Father Of Lies

Antagonizing Human Resources

Human Resources retired the objector, forcibly

Human resources do a body goodThe absence of democracy on a ship shouldn’t be surprising. But the absence of it from a spaceship on a thousand year journey may be.

There’s also no captain, not since the human resources department took over.

They’re a major antagonist for my Destiny Exodus series.

Having human resources a villain in my book can be confusing. I try to mitigate by naming the leadership committee  superman, because it is made up of supervisors and managers. Superman ensures that passengers are happy and compliant with the rules of the ship.

Continue reading Antagonizing Human Resources

New Seasons Hotdog, With Horseradish

My favorite meal is a hotdog

Wife Crepes best crepesWhen I eat out I mean. Of course all meals prepared by my lovely wife are my true favorites.

I’ve been accused of loving Portland, and I do love living here.

I appreciate all the city has to offer, but I’m too pretentious to admit directly that I love Portland. Instead I put a bird on my book.

Continue reading New Seasons Hotdog, With Horseradish

Currency of a space village

Currency within my fictional worldTooth for money, open for business

Working on my book Destiny’s Hand I struggled with the concept of currency. I wondered if money was even necessary with only a thousand people isolated for fifty generations.

My son gets a dollar a week and five dollars a tooth. He doesn’t need money. We provide his basic necessities and many amenities.

He wants money. It gives him choices. He collects it and counts it. He brushes his teeth extra to improve their value for when it’s time to trade with the tooth fairy.

Continue reading Currency of a space village

I want ride my bicycle, bicycle, bicycle

Bicycle, father and sonBicycle was stolen

Realizing my bicycle was stolen a few weeks ago was a familiar sinking feeling followed by impotent rage.

I have a special attachment to my main mode of transportation.

I only got a driver license because my wife demanded it before having a baby.

She was not reassured by my suggestion of strapping her to a bike trailer. I held back on suggesting she could just pedal herself.

I’ve been pedaling as long as I can remember.

The big wheel was pure fun, but when I got a bicycle I got freedom. I remember in Hawaii riding my new bike the morning after Christmas barefoot and still wearing my pajamas.

Continue reading I want ride my bicycle, bicycle, bicycle

Violence lost, passive aggressive won

Mr Satan believes in violenceWhat does violence look like in a passive aggressive culture?

It is commonly understood that violence is a bad thing. I disagree. I think violence is all around us, and that it in itself isn’t a bad thing.

What’s toxic is when bullying is combined with violence. Mugging someone to steal their purse or wallet is bad. Punching a friend in the face can be good. Context has to matter with something so sweeping.

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines violence as:

The intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, which either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment, or deprivation.

Their definition makes it sound terrible, and I’m glad it is declining worldwide. But, is passive aggressive conflict rising to take its place? And, is it politically correct of me to ask?

As the mighty Vegeta said:

It will take more than head games to stop me. You may have invaded my mind and my body, but there is one thing a Saiyan always keeps. HIS PRIDE!

The novel (Destiny’s Hand) I’m working on takes place in a future setting far advanced down a path of non-violence. This does not mean life in it is fair or healthy. For better and worse, a passive aggressive culture won and rules.

A slap can be very honest.

Continue reading Violence lost, passive aggressive won

Birthday At The Beach, Spindrift In July

Spindrift beach cottageThe beach is a nice lawn

An ocean’s beach has the constant ambiance of a seashell’s breath. For my son’s fifth birthday, or rather the weekend after, we’ve been marinating in a hundred and two year old seaside beach house designed by A. E. Doyle.

The beach view couchIt’s a rare opportunity to enjoy the Oregon coast as a family with friends in the midst of the optimum season.

The location and birthday make it a once in a lifetime experience.

Continue reading Birthday At The Beach, Spindrift In July

Possibly Dogs In Space?

I’ve decided to enhance the presence of pets, particularly dogs, in the setting of my book Destiny’s Hand.

Ipo my dog, a brave little sweetheartI got a dog at four.

Her short name was Ipo, “Sweetheart” in Hawaiian.

Her full name meant “brave little sweetheart”; I don’t remember the Hawaiian.

She was my friend when I was alone in Fern Forest on an island with volcanic sunsets and a Green Sand Beach.

She wasn’t a pet. She was family.

Continue reading Possibly Dogs In Space?

My son’s weight in cherries. Summer is berry fun.

Cherries taste better by the bucket.

Wolfe's Cherries, inexpensive organic ripe and deliciousA berry tastes better when U-Pick, though I’m not complaining about the sixty five pounds of ripe picked organic cherries for fifty seven dollars that we got on the fourth from Wolfe’s.

I think my son Yuri may be able to eat his weight in berries.

Continue reading My son’s weight in cherries. Summer is berry fun.