And the Wheel Keeps On Turning…

Happy New Year!

I resolve to write more in 2010 than last year – 2009’s total paid (and WLDC) word count, including blogs, articles, press releases, books and whatnot (not counting personal doodling and blogging here) exceeded 65,000 this year – and to make a dent somewhere.

Now, understand, that doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll write more here, but I’ll see what I can do. And that dent thing? Well, to each their own interpretation…

In any case, hope the holidays have found you well and I raise my glass to you as we ring out ‘09 and the first decade of the 21st century.

I leave you with these words from Tashunkewitko (aka Crazy Horse):

A very great vision is needed and the man who has it must follow it as the eagle seeks the deepest blue of the sky.

Many happy returns in 2010!

NatGeo: Terra Cotta Warriors Invade! (Preview)

I was invited last week to a special local blogger/photographer pre-public event at the National Geographic Society, celebrating the visit of the extremely rare-outside-China terra cotta warriors. DC was the last stop on a four-city tour; they had 15 of the figures on display along with roughly 100 total pieces.

We only had an hour to visit, so I spent 59 minutes shooting the two galleries. (That one lone minute was for light-testing and a lens swap-out.) Though I shot nearly 150 photos, I ended up with about 95 worth anything. Shooting without flash is difficult indoors, especially in a soft-lit exhibit space. Still, I think I did decently well.

You can see the photos in my Flickr gallery. I’ll post a smattering here, after the jump.

Dear Dunder Mifflin…I Resign

‘Dunder Mifflin, Inc.’
courtesy of ‘Marcin Wichary’

Dear Mr. Wallace:

I’ve been a faithful employee of Dunder Mifflin going on five years now. I loved showing up each week; my fellow employees were quirky, endearing and awesome. Even my boss, Michael Scott, was fun – if a bit clueless. He had his redeeming qualities, which made him sufferable through his more manic periods.

But lately, ever since the merger and that whole Jan fiasco, life at D-M has been painful. I don’t rush to get out of bed on Thursdays anymore. And I cringe now when I walk in the door. I don’t know, maybe it’s me and not you.

See, my boss seems to be suffering from a breakdown. He’s turned into a thirty year-old child on a constant basis now; I can’t rely on him to effectively run my business any more. I’ve not seen quality salesmanship from him in a while and I’m concerned that his focus is not on the business and our clients, but instead in this reckless pursuit of, well, everything else.  I honestly feel like I’m in high school again and I can’t take it any more.

My co-workers have also gotten more freakish. Before, I knew Meredith was a loner – quiet, affable but pretty much ketp to herself. But lately? She’s like some washed-up hooker eager for alcohol and sex and pretty blatant about it now, even exchanging sex for favorable supplier terms. Toby, the HR guy, won’t even address it – but then again, he avoids everything anyway.

And I still don’t understand why Ryan, that temp-turned-corrupt VP-turned-ex-con-turned-temp, is even allowed to work here? I know Michael’s unhealthy man-crush is partially to blame, but I also hold the company responsible. I can’t even leave my briefcase out with him around because I’m concerned he’ll steal it and go buy a thimble of blow.

We won’t discuss Dwight. I’ve been told by Toby you have several cartons of memos on him (or by him?) and frankly, it’s all true. All of it.

So I’m leaving. I have to. When it gets to the point where the office is nothing but a fun house freakshow, where no real work gets done but apparently everyone’s laundry is out for all to see and play with, it’s just not a worthwhile investment in my time and talent. Consider this my notice; I gave two weeks already and there’s no changing my mind.

I hope D-M survives this recession. But until you fix that Scranton branch, I highly doubt it.

I’d wish you luck…but I think Kevin ate it.

Sincerely,

Me

A Time of War, in Beta

If you’ve not heard the news by now, Catalyst Game Labs has released for a limited time, their new core rulebook for the BattleTech RPG in a “beta release.” For $10, you can download the PDF, go hunting for errors, submit a ’story seed,’ and then get the free, full upgrade when the final version is cycled.

It’s a similar move to what Paizo did with their Pathfinder RPG a while back.

Oh, and as usual, the core book has short fiction interspersed with the chapters, but with a twist from the other books: all of the fiction stories tie together as a recon squad heads out on a scout mission. The overall story and characters were sketched by yours truly, as well as writing the head- and capstone stories. The in-between action was picked up by several other capable BT writers, including Kevin K., Jason Hardy, Steve Mohan (I love his the best) and Jim Rapkins. It’s a great read, if I do say so myself.

So go, buy, scour, report, and enjoy.

I suppose I should update this thing. And I will, I swear. Just….not right now. Lots going on, much in the air – all good, mind you – and I am having a hard time just settling down for 5 minutes to do something without getting distra