writing challenge

November Writing Challenge Day 30: Challenge Completed

I’m blogging every day this month. Some will be game-related, but this challenge is different than my most recent play-a-game-and-blog-about-it challenge. I’m writing a single post every day: no topic guidelines, with some posts being a collection of random thoughts. Click here to read yesterday’s post.

This is my 30th post of the month and my challenge is completed! Thanks for joining me for all or part of my blog-every-day-in-November challenge. I appreciate all of you that shared your feedback via Twitter. For me, this is what the challenge was all about: starting conversations with friends, both new and old.

While I don’t have any pearls of wisdom gained from all of these posts and there’s no Book of Secrets that I gained access to after completing the challenge, there is something to be said for setting a goal and reaching it.

It feels good.

I said I was going to do something and I did it. Following through is always a good thing.

Now I’m asking you to challenge yourself this month. Whether it’s writing a blog post every day or going to the gym every day or just being nicer to others or anything else you’d like to achieve, do it.

Don’t worry if you miss a day or two or more of your challenge. I’ve always looked at my challenges like this: even if I didn’t write a blog every day, I still wrote more than if I wouldn’t have challenged myself.

And, yes, it is all about the journey. Enjoy the ride and then look back and see what kind of progress you’ve made. No matter what the challenge is, celebrate your accomplishments, both big and small. Then challenge yourself again.

Thanks again for reading.

November Writing Challenge Day 16: 100 Games in 100 Days

I’m blogging every day this month. Some will be game-related, but this challenge is different than my most recent play-a-game-and-blog-about-it challenge. I’m writing a single post every day: no topic guidelines, with some posts being a collection of random thoughts. Click here to read yesterday’s post.

Earlier this year I met David Guthrie, also known as GameyLannister on Instagram. Besides having the coolest Instagram handle, David is also known for his insanely awesome accomplishment: he played BGG’s Top 100 Games in 100 days.

We met when I’d reached out to him via Instagram to see if he wanted to play Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition. I’m on my own quest to play it 10 times this year and I had a game scheduled at Strategicon in L.A. Unfortunately, a few of the players couldn’t make it and we ended up playing a three-player game with Ben O’Steen. It was a fun game with two fantastic gamers and while I still think TI4 is best at six players, I’d happily play it at three again.

As the old saying goes, three-player TI4 is better than no TI4.

Today a bunch of us who’d helped David reach his goal met up at The Dragon & Meeple in Los Angeles. I wrote about this gaming restaurant/bar/game store here and today we ate, drank, and played games in honor of David. He’s one of the nicest people I’ve met through the hobby.

I thought about this on the way home, how fortunate I’ve been to game with David and so many other fantastic people. A few of them where there today and I’m grateful for the times we’ve spent at the tabletop, laughing, talking trash, and enjoying each other’s company.

For me, it’s the best part of the hobby. Yeah, we play all of these fun games, but the games are only as good as the people you play them with. If you’re gonna hang out for hours at a time playing games, I hope you’re doing so only with the best people. I’m fortunate that I do.

November Writing Challenge Day 13: Time Travel

I’m blogging every day this month. Some will be game-related, but this challenge is different than my most recent play-a-game-and-blog-about-it challenge. I’m writing a single post every day: no topic guidelines, with some posts being a collection of random thoughts. Click here to read yesterday’s post.

I’ve got a secret: I didn’t write a blog post yesterday. Sure, if you check the date November 12, 2019, you’ll see I wrote about something delicious, but this was a case of Internet Magic. I wrote that post about an hour ago and back-dated it so my Post Every Day in November Challenge could live on. Yes!

This small bit of Internet time travel got me thinking about time traveling while playing board games. With my main group, we’re all easy going and like to win, but not to the point where we won’t let someone take back a move, especially if the next player hasn’t gone yet.

If an action was caused by a missed rule, then we try to retcon moves back to when the rule was missed. If we’re not too far along, then we’ll just start the game over, but if not, then we’ll just finish the game with the wrong rule and play correctly next time.

So this is our version of traveling back in time during game night. Recently, though, a buddy of mine was gaming with someone else I know and that person took back a few of his previous moves during his turn before taking his current turn (I think this was during a game of Anachrony or Trickerion). I couldn’t believe he did that and I couldn’t believe my friend didn’t say anything.

Again, we’re pretty laid back, but in heavier games we’re a bit more by-the-book since your actions affect a lot more during the game. It’s like the poker games I used to play in regularly: things that were okay at a home game were definitely not okay at the casino.

I’m definitely not a hardcore rules lawyer, though. I’m all about the experience and if a missed rule would ruin the experience, then we’ll figure out a way to fix it. But most of the time I’m willing to roll with a mistake or a take-back or two, as long as things keep moving. While I want to make sure we play correctly, I’d rather not devote time to reading the rulebook while we’re playing since it takes away time from the next game we could be playing.

Still, whenever I play a game of Twilight Imperium, we do have the “Everyone Gets One” do-over, as long as the next player hasn’t gone yet. We’re playing games, which are supposed to be fun, so a friendly do-over is well within reason. Just like when you’re trying to blog every day in November.

November Writing Challenge Day 12: Happy Hour

I’m blogging every day this month. Some will be game-related, but this challenge is different than my most recent play-a-game-and-blog-about-it challenge. I’m writing a single post every day: no topic guidelines, with some posts being a collection of random thoughts. Click here to read yesterday’s post.

My wife and I recently discovered a late-night happy hour at a local ramen restaurant called Noods Bar. The ramen isn’t all that, but the appetizers and small bites are good, especially during their late happy hour from 9pm-midnight on Friday and Saturday.

We like the mini chashu bowl which is the pork belly served over a small bowl of white rice. I call it their “adobo” since the consistency and flavor reminds me of one of my favorite Filipino dishes.

We’re also big fans of their shishito peppers, which are stir-fried and served with a cream sauce. These peppers are interesting: about 1 in every 10 are spicy, while the others tend to be a little sweet. The quick stir-fry gives it a little smokiness, too. Michelle and I always laugh when one of us “gets lucky” and bites into the spicy chili.

My favorite appetizer, though, is the Elote. Inspired by the Mexican snack found at roadside vendors throughout Southern California, the Elote at Noods is deep fried corn kernels with a yuzu cream and hot Cheetos crumbs. It’s not too spicy, since the sauce acts as a cooler, but it sure is delicious.

The name Elote is a misnomer, though; elote refers to corn on the cob, while esquites is the corn removed from the cob and served in the bowl. Thankfully, I love elote and esquites equally so I don’t mind eating this tasty misnamed dish.

November Writing Challenge Day 10: Sushi Roll Again

I’m blogging every day this month. Some will be game-related, but this challenge is different than my most recent play-a-game-and-blog-about-it challenge. I’m writing a single post every day: no topic guidelines, with some posts being a collection of random thoughts. Click here to read yesterday’s post.

A week ago I wrote about my newfound love of Sushi Roll, the dice version of the modern classic card game, Sushi Go! After a few more plays I’m not as enamored of it (it’s ripe for an expansion, just like the original needed Sushi Go Party! to freshen things up), but it’s still a go-to for a quick and fun dice chucker.

Today my brother and his family stopped by for a surprise visit. My niece is a big fan of Sushi Go! so I made sure to introduce her to Sushi Roll tonight. She learned quickly and throughout our game we kept talking about how it was making us hungry.

Of course, we had to have sushi for dinner.

We went to the local revolving sushi restaurant, where the sushi is on a conveyor belt and makes its way around the dining room. We enjoyed putting in our special orders, which arrived on the “express lane” conveyer belt above the regular sushi.

And when it was all done, we were stuffed beyond our gills, ready to roll home. I may have won Sushi Roll, but I was no match for my niece’s appetite for the real thing. I’m ready for a rematch, though.

November Writing Challenge Day 9: dude

I’m blogging every day this month. Some will be game-related, but this challenge is different than my most recent play-a-game-and-blog-about-it challenge. I’m writing a single post every day: no topic guidelines, with some posts being a collection of random thoughts. Click here to read yesterday’s post.

The game dude (all lower case) is a surprisingly fun card game. Much like Happy Salmon, you’re trying to match cards with one other person. Everyone shuffles their deck of dude cards, then secretly looks at the top one and says it out loud. If two players think they’re saying the same form of “dude” then they say “sweet” and reveal their cards.

If you don’t match, then you both discard your card into the middle. If you do match, then you both set your card aside and score it at the end of the game. The game ends when one player no longer has any cards and the most points wins.

What I love about dude is that it’s so easy to learn and leads to some hilarious in-game moments. How do you say the “dude” that’s printed against the tie-dye background? Will your “dude.” sound like “dewd”?

I know, it’s not a brain-burner. It’s super light, super silly, and way more fun than it seems. It’s not something you’ll want to play at every game night, but it’s great to have around as either an icebreaker with new gamers or as an occasional filler game.

November Writing Challenge Day 7: Raider Football

I’m blogging every day this month. Some will be game-related, but this challenge is different than my most recent play-a-game-and-blog-about-it challenge. I’m writing a single post every day: no topic guidelines, with some posts being a collection of random thoughts. Click here to read yesterday’s post.

Photo Credit: https://www.si.com/nfl/photo/2017/10/19/classic-oakland-raiders-photos#2

I remember the exact moment I became a Raiders fan: it was an exhibition game between the hometown Los Angeles Rams and the visiting Oakland Raiders. Until this point I’d been rooting for the L.A. team because that’s where we lived and all of my classmates seemed to like the Rams. My dad had taken me to the game and it was the first time I saw an NFL game in person.

I was amazed at how big the Los Angeles Coliseum was and how small the players looked down on the field. Something about those players in the silver and black, though, just appealed to me. My dad used to root for them, too, I think because he liked the outlaw image of the team.

While my dad wasn’t an outlaw by any means, I’m sure the Raiders’ independent spirit appealed to him. He was someone who’d left his homeland behind, seeking opportunities in country where he was a minority. He only had my mom and her extended family in Southern California as his support system. He did what he had to do to provide for his family.

I remember Sundays being his day to watch football and drink a Michelob or two. I was thrilled whenever he asked me to grab a beer for him from the fridge. When the Raiders were losing, he’d tell me not to worry, since the Raiders were a second-half team. And more often than not in those days, Ken Stabler would lead the team back for a win.

While neither of us follow the team as passionately as we did before (in fact, the older I get, the less of a sports fan I become), I’m not one to change my sports team loyalties. I’ll always be a member of the Raider Nation, thanks to my dad.

November Writing Challenge Day 6: Tacos

I’m blogging every day this month. Some will be game-related, but this challenge is different than my most recent play-a-game-and-blog-about-it challenge. I’m writing a single post every day: no topic guidelines, with some posts being a collection of random thoughts. Click here to read yesterday’s post.

It’s not Taco Tuesday, but let’s talk tacos anyways. Living in Southern California I’ve always believed we have the best tacos outside of Mexico. I know I’m not the only one who subscribes to the theory that Mexican food goes down in quality the further away you get from the border. I’ve had tacos in New York that were barely edible.

In fact, I used to be a snob about tacos. I want a tiny warm corn tortilla filled with carne asada or lengua or even cabeza, topped off with cilantro and onion, with a splash of salsa. Bringing me a hard shell, cheese, and ground beef was like spitting on a plate and serving it to me.

From hand battered and deep fried fish to freshly carved al pastor with a slice of pineapple, I love tacos of all types. Bonus points if I can get grilled green onions, a smoky jalapeno, and a fistful of radishes on the side.

I was thinking about how my taste buds have changed over the years. I used to be the guy that would drown any kind of Mexican food in salsa. The hotter the better. Now, I want to enjoy the taste without breaking into a sweat.

And maybe I’m mellowing in my old age, but those hard shell tacos with the ground beef and golden cheese? I’ll eat them, if I’m in the right mood, which means if I’m feeling nostalgic for the tacos from my youth, served at my non-Mexican friends’ homes. The tacos I’d eat after baseball practice at the snack shack. Or the rare occasion when I found myself at a Pup ‘N Taco or Naugles.

But if given a choice, gimme those tacos from a truck or, even better, from some pop-up roadside stand after a night of cocktails and shenanigans.

November Writing Challenge Day 5: Resistance Reborn

I’m blogging every day this month. Some will be game-related, but this challenge is different than my most recent play-a-game-and-blog-about-it challenge. I’m writing a single post every day: no topic guidelines, with some posts being a collection of random thoughts. Click here to read yesterday’s post.

On Day 3 of my writing challenge I wrote about The Rise of Skywalker and yesterday I found Star Wars: Resistance Reborn by Rebecca Roanhorse in my mailbox.

I immediately dove into it and I hope to finish it this weekend. Resistance Reborn takes place after The Last Jedi and early on it feels like it’s setting up The Rise of Skywalker. General Leia, Rey, and Poe are all dealing with being the last of the Resistance. Where are their allies? What can be done about the First Order?

While I’ve read a bunch of Star Wars books, I’ve never read one in anticipation of an upcoming film. It’s usually been as a way to enjoy the Star Wars universe when no movies are planned. It’s exciting to see these characters come to life through the written word (and, yes, John Williams’ iconic music plays through my head more often than not while reading).

I’ve got a few pitches out to various websites for coverage on Resistance Reborn, so hopefully I’ll be able to write a bit more about it soon. Thanks to my friends at Random House for the advanced copy, which I’m enjoying so far.

If you’ve never read a Star Wars book, I’d highly recommend Timothy Zahn’s classic Thrawn trilogy. Published way back in 1991 during the dead time between the original trilogy and the first prequel, it’s still a fantastic series of books well worth reading. After Disney acquired the property it became part of the non-canon Legends series, which was a shame since Grand Admiral Thrawn is the best bad guy outside of Darth Vader and all of the books featuring him have been awesome. Thrawn-some, if you will.

Thankfully, Thrawn is officially part of the Star Wars universe again, thanks to a new series of books by Zahn and as part of the animated Rebels series. Although I’m not aware of any plans of making a feature film or television series about Thrawn, I wouldn’t be surprised if Disney eventually does. He’s too good of a character not to be up on the big screen.

November Writing Challenge Day 1: Coloring and Better Call Saul

I love how November has become the month for challenges, from growing a mustache to writing a novel. I’ve done monthly challenges before, like when I play a game every day and write about it.

For this month I’m doing two different challenges. First, my wife and I are coloring for at least 10 minutes every day. I don’t remember the last time I colored, but tonight’s session was great. It took me about 15 minutes to color the flower above and I hope to complete the entire oversized page this month. Yes, I’m a slow colorist, but for me it’s all about the relaxation. And it certainly was relaxing.

My second challenge will be posting here every day this month. It won’t be about games necessarily, but just about life in general and other thoughts. Of course, I’m sure gaming will be a big part of what I write about, but I wanted to expand what I write about here.

Photo Credit: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/better-call-saul-season-2-863965

So for this first day of posting, let’s talk Better Call Saul. I’m a huge Breaking Bad fan, but until the other day I’d managed to watch only a few episodes of its prequel. I just couldn’t get into it.

That changed this week, thanks to a day spent in bed due to sickness. As I get older I realize that it takes me much longer to recover from anything, whether it’s a late night out or an illness of any sort. The ol’ bones need their rest.

Funny thing, too, I knew I was due to get sick because I’d been pushing myself recently and not eating regularly. Skipping meals is never a good thing and being laid up for a day (ok, actually two) was my body’s way of slowing me down.

Still, at least I got to dive into Better Call Saul. I watched the first two seasons and enjoyed them. The show certainly has that Breaking Bad feel, thanks to creator Vince Gilligan. Bob Odenkirk is excellent as Jimmy McGill, the man who would become Saul Goodman, the shady lawyer for Walter White. While Saul was a scene-stealer in Breaking Bad, it’s Saul’s right-hand man Mike Ehrmantraut (played by Jonathan Banks) who steals scenes in Better Call Saul.

In fact, I like the story of Ehrmantraut better than Goodman so far. Without giving away too much, the mysterious Mike of Breaking Bad is more fully developed here, along with Goodman and a few other new characters. There are a few surprises, of course, but just like Breaking Bad it’s all about watching these characters develop. Of course, the difference here is that we know what they become in Breaking Bad, but that works in its favor. It’s like working a puzzle backwards, slowly pulling pieces away to see how it all began.