Along with the hobbies listed in the “About Me” section, I’m also into Steampunk. That goes for literature, games, movies, crafting, clothing – the lot. On April 13th, this love of Steampunk was on full display at Laughing Ogre Comics. That day, myself and several other members of the Airship Archon “invaded” the store for a number of hours. Why? Well, besides the fact that the Ogre is a class act, we were promoting the Privateer’s Promenade.

The Privateer’s Promenade is promising to be the Steampunk gala to attend in Central Ohio this summer. Taking place on May 18th at 9PM, it will feature acts by The Ford Theatre Reunion, Ohh-La-Las Burlesque, Lindsay Nova, and others. Where is this magnificent event being held, you ask? I’m glad you asked. It will be at the Ace of Cups located at 2619 North High Street. Admission at the door will be $10. Ten bucks. That’s it. All that wonderful entertainment, dancing, and rampant Steampunkery for ten bucks! You can read more about the event on Facebook here.

Special thanks to CThomas Photography for allowing me to use one of her photos taken at the Laughing Ogre.

The Airship Archon at the Laughing Ogre. I’m the cranky looking guy on the left. Photography by CThomas Photography.

I do believe that’s the largest amount of hyperlinks I’ve put in a blog post.

The MarCon event turned out to be more of a room party then an actual reading. That was entirely my misunderstanding. Still, we had a decent turnout, and it was nice to talk with Michael Haynes and Daniel O’Riordan again.

However, this coming weekend, on April 6th, there is another Sidekicks! related event planned. From 4PM to 6PM, several writers (self included), Sarah Hans, and Steven Saus will be appearing at Epic Loot Games and Comics in Centerville, Ohio. And this time, there will be readings.

The address for the event is : 9130 Dayton-Lebanon Pike, Centerville, OH. Please come out and say “Hi!”.

This has nothing to do with Sidekicks!. Promise.

No, what I’m upset about are reviewers who feel compelled to tell people that a “twist” exists in the plot of the book/movie/video game they are reviewing. It doesn’t matter if they reveal what the actual twist is. Once they’ve mentioned it, any halfway clever person’s brain will be on the lookout and will figure it out long before the artist intended. This severely diminishes the story’s impact, and as a side effect, the overall enjoyment of the thing. Continue reading →

I’ve learned of a few Sidekicks! related events that will happening at Millennicon. On Saturday at 6PM, Matt Betts will be doing a reading. Matt’s story, “The Old West” is part of the anthology. At 7PM, Sarah Hans, who edited the anthology and is a fine writer to boot, will be doing a reading along with Steven Saus, writer and head of Alliteration Ink. At 9PM, there will be a book launching party. If you’ve got a paid membership to Millenncon, you’re welcome to come celebrate with us.

While I will be at the con on Saturday, I have no events planned. However you can count on me being at the party, pontificating about the glory of beer to anyone who is willing to listen.

This week a class-action lawsuit was filed against Anheuser-Bush InBev. The complaint alleges that the corporation has been watering their beers down below the advertised 5% ABV. When I first read about the case, one of my first thoughts was, “How can they tell?”

Let’s be blunt. I love beer. I love beer to the point where a Joseph J. Manbag would sneer and proclaim me to either be a hipster, snob, or both. I prefer the term “beer geek”, myself.  I spend hours reading over issues of Zymurgy and Brew Your Own, researching the history of beer. If I stumble across a documentary about beer on NetFlix, that’s it, I’m not doing anything else for the next few hours. And for the past 7 or so years, I’ve been brewing my own beer at home. Continue reading →

One night, not too long after I’d gotten married, I was hanging out with my buddy, Pete. We were discussing the highs and lows of being a step-parent. Pete had grown up in the care of a step-father, while I had recently become one. The current topic was my step-son.

“I tell ya’ what, man.” Pete grinned. “he’s turning out to be a pretty handsome cat. How are you going to keep him, y’know, out of trouble?” He nodded at me in a “wink-wink-grin-grin-say-no-more-squire” fashion.

“Easy,” I replied. We’re raising him to be a geek.” Continue reading →

I initially wrote this under the pseudonym Doc Tarrasque for the now defunct humor website, FupDuck.com. I’ve always been happy with how the piece turned out. It seemed appropriate to update it and publish it here. Happy New Year!

At the start of each year, I like to take a few days off of work to sit back, focus, and think about the direction my life is going in. One subject that routinely gets pondered on during this little siesta is my health, or, rather, my lack of health. This year was no different. And while I have many friends who would probably club me to death if they ever heard me gripe about my weight, the fact is that I no longer posses the spry form I once maintained in my youth. So, in an effort to stem the physical effects of my gamer lifestyle, I am slowly weeding out those foods from my diet that are unhealthy. That is to say, I’m eating fewer foods that make me happy, such as juicy, red-centered, medium-rare steaks topped with runny Gorgonzola, and eating more foods that make me very, very unhappy. Foods like sardines, broccoli, and the most soul crushing of all, yogurt. Continue reading →