The Strangest Phone Call I Ever Made

This is apropos of nothing: Ten years ago, I called a friend of mine. I hadn’t spoken to him in several years, and I don’t exactly remember why I was calling him. I know I was visiting my home, and I probably wanted to go have a drink. What made the call stranger was that […]

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Space: The Final Frontier

Like so many in my generation, I grew up watching the launch of NASA’s Space Shuttles. For years, we would gather in lunch rooms and classrooms to celebrate the triumph of American science ingenuity as we rocketed into space. I remember watching in awe as those massive shuttles fired into space. I was memerized by […]

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The Tenth Year Edition

The more we do this, the more I think we sound like Axl Rose…but for the first time in a long time, I’ve blocked out 1/2 a month work exclusively on the Second Edition of Dungeons and Dreamers, which now also makes it likely the Tenth Anniversary Edition of the book. Regardless of delay and […]

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From Wired News: Auction Preview of D&D Co-Creator’s Personal Collection and Archives

I just saw this interesting tidbit about the lost treasures of Dave Arneson thanks to this piece by GeekDad over at Wired News. His original gaming dice. His original Dungeons & Dragons and Blackmoor campaign manuscripts. His first printing, woodgrain boxed set play copy of D&D. Letters from Gary Gygax. Other letters, notes, documents, artwork, […]

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SXSW Interactive, a Recap

I’m just back from South by Southwest, a 10-day interactive, music, and film conference and festival in Austin, Texas. I’ll get into more detail later, but I’m giving several conference recaps to various constituencies. As I work through my round-up, I’ll be adding to my notes and blog here. A brief overview of South by […]

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The Design of Authorship #2

This is the second post in my series of reading and interactive environments over at Jane Friedman’s blog. I. The role of reading in American society is changing. We need look no further for evidence than research studies aggregated in books such as The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupifies Young Americans and Jeopardizes […]

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How We May Read #1

A few months back, I began writing up my thoughts and research regarding reading and interactive environments over at Jane Friedman’s blog. I promise very soon Jane that I will return to that endeavor. There’s more to say and my research has been parsed now. Until then, I’m re-posting my work. I. In August 2010, […]

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As We May Read

I’m going to begin this little essay with the pitch: I’m working on a two-year research project that will examine how people read, extract what makes the experience pleasurable, and prototype how that experience can be re-created in a digital environment. There two reasons I’m doing this: I’ve returned to graduate school, both to update […]

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A Thought On Hearts

I spent the day discussing art, creativity, storytelling, and life with my students. I am immersed within narratives right now, drinking in their spirits. It was during one of those slow moments that I had a conversation, one muddied with the human-ness of emotions and the personal strands that tether us with the ties that […]

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