5 Things on a Friday: The As For Football College Football Show

Happy Friday, everybody!  Let’s go.

5 Things on a Friday: Hot Human Sacrifice & Santa Claus’s Bones

Man, this week just flew by!  Shortest week ever!!!

Just kidding.  This week sucked.  It was long as all Hell.

Happy Friday!

5 Things on a Friday: Not Going Back to Korea

Happy Friday, folks!

5 Things on a Friday: 200 Years to Find a New Planet

Happy Friday, folks!  Let’s get it on.

5 Things on a Friday: In Search of Happiness

We took a couple of weeks off, but now we’re back.  I hope you missed us.

Happy Friday!

Friday Mad Science: Putting Ourselves Back Together

I feel better.  

I suffer from a touch of Seasonal Affective Disorder, which I would personally argue is not a disorder, exactly, considering that most people struggle when they don’t get enough sunlight.  But whatever.  My symptoms are complicated by the reality that I work in a windowless bunker in Midtown Manhattan, and they were complicated even more this past weekend when temperatures in New York and Connecticut dipped into the single digits alongside several days of snow and overcast skies.  I usually deal with my SAD by swimming and bike commuting, but I couldn’t get to the pool early in the week, and with the weather, cycling was impossible as well.  This left me with far too much energy, too many ugly brain chemicals, and not enough light.  At exactly the same time, I was also dealing with some profoundly negative thoughts about a project I’ve allowed to become entirely too personal.  By midday on Tuesday, I was bouncing off the walls.  I found myself snapping at my wife and indulging some rather nasty fantasies…  This was not good.

I finally got to the pool Tuesday night, and it was a Godsend.  My main sets were as follows.

5 Things on a Friday: Mad Science is Back!

Crazy week.  The world recoiled in horror, and then the Internet tore itself apart.  I lost my patience pretty quickly, and honestly, if it weren’t for my responsibilities as Information Systems Officer for my class from West Point, I probably would have deactivated my Facebook account.  I can handle the lunatic ramblings of the Twitteratti because for the most part I don’t know those people.  Who cares what a bunch of sports writers and comic book artists and writers think about the news of the day?  No one, really, and that’s fine.  However, I do know the folks on Facebook, and as a result their “arguments” get to me.  Because no one ever learns anything, and also because…  

Who wants to watch their friends argue?

I certainly don’t.

Now, you may say that keeping a column like this is exactly like posting an argument on Facebook, and maybe it is.  The difference, at least in my mind, is that this site is mine, that folks who come here have done so voluntarily to hear what I think.  I’m not twisting anybody’s arm, and--truly--my feelings aren’t hurt if you like me but not my writing.  In the same way that we can be friends but don’t have to work out together in the weight room, we can also be friends, and you can ignore my blog.  It’s okay.  I get that it can be political.  For what it’s worth, I’ve been trying to do less politics of late, but readership has gone down as a result.  So I’m going to need to find a balance in there somewhere--hopefully without coming off too hypocritical.

6 Things on a Sunday: On Reaching “Peak Sequel”

I had a draft of this post ready for Friday, but I hated it.  After taking out several of the political articles and adding some other, hopefully lighter fare, I like it better.  

But I still wouldn’t say that I like it.

It seems like all the news is depressing, and sharing depressing news doesn’t do much for me.  However, it’s also true that the stuff that I like is rarely what speaks to others, so who knows?  Maybe you guys will think this is a masterpiece.  That's life sometimes.

5 Things on a Friday: Looking for Vets from the "War on Christmas"

Happy Friday, folks.  Let’s get to it.

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1. Starbucks ‘removed Christmas from their cups because they hate Jesus,’ Christian says in viral Facebook video (Washington Post)
Some say Jesus Christ healed the sick and died to redeem humankind. Little is said about his views on the Pumpkin Spice Latte.

Still, secular coffee maker Starbucks has come under fire from some Christians who say the company isn’t repping hard enough for Jesus on its recent understated holiday cups.

Shots fired!  It’s a War on Christmas!!!

5 Things on a Friday: Dealing with the Dark Side

Happy Friday, folks.  Let's get it on!

5 Things on a Friday: Who's Losing?

I would like to tell you that I have some brilliant insights about the world this week, but the biggest news anywhere was negative--Joe Biden's not going to run for president.

Of course he's not.  He's been trying to decide not to run for months.

But this leaves us without a lot to talk about.  Thankfully, there are new trailers for Star Wars and Jessica Jones, and of course, we'll always have Jeb Bush to pick on.

Let's get to it.

5 Things on Friday: Joachim Strikes!

Happy Friday, folks.  There’s a hurricane off the East Coast, and as of this writing, no one is quite certain exactly where it’s headed.  Half the projections show it turning for DC, and half show it heading harmlessly out to sea.  This, of course, means they’ve split the difference on television and have it headed directly for New York City.  As I constantly tell my kids, nothing gets destroyed on TV as consistently as New York.

Speaking personally, I think the Football Gods are looking to smite Happy Valley.  My prediction is that the hurricane will hit full force in Pennsylvania just as Army is kicking off against Penn State on Saturday.  The game already projects to be a sloppy affair, and this small bit of advantage will put the Black Knights over the top, giving them their greatest victory of the twenty-first century.  Or else it will just cause chaos, which would also be fine perfectly fine.  As you can see, the track only needs to shift a little futher north to turn the contest into a water polo match.

5 Things on a Friday: Failing to Find Common Ground

It’s a lot of politics this week, and I feel like I ought to apologize for it.  If you’re like me, your Facebook feed is a constant source of frustration because of all the politically motivated B.S. and overwhelmingly negative vibes.  Twitter doesn’t bother me so much because I’m not friends with those folks, but truly, my desire to know that my buddy is a Ben Carson supporter is extremely limited.  I mean, it’s fine on its face, but let’s don’t pretend that I am about to support Carson or that I care that you want me to.  We may be friends, but we also live in our own separate realities.  We each have our own issues around the kitchen table.  I’m personally trying to vote my own interests here, and I especially don’t give a shit about other people’s various dogmas.  I’ve been struggling with faith for a while now—which is to say that I wish that I had some—but regardless of what I may or may not believe, I still have to live according to my conscience.  I see the world a certain way.  You don’t have to see it my way, but it would be wrong to assume that I’m better than you are at listening to others with an open mind.

5 Things on a Friday: Introducing Jessica Jones

Happy Friday, folks.  It’s turned out to be a grey, somber, rainy day in New York and Connecticut.  Tomorrow is still the start of the weekend, though, so let’s get to it.

5 Things on a Friday: Trump's Wasteland

It’s Friday, and I start vacation next week.  Life is good.  It feels late to be getting away, but I cannot wait.

Let’s get to it, yeah?

5 Things on a Friday: Texas Enters the Union at Last

Thank God it's Friday.  I don't know about you, but this has been a really long week for me.

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1. The Commodore PET Has Been Reincarnated As A Phone (TechCrunch)

The guys who bought the Commodore name are releasing an Android smartphone for about $300. The price includes some bog standard specs but, most important, includes two emulators so you can play classic 1980s games right on your screen.

5 Things on a Friday: Russia Spies Danger in Selfie Nation

Happy Friday, folks.  Hope everybody’s primed to have an awesome weekend.

Let’s get to it!

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5 Things on a Friday: Unpayable Debts, Unpayable Wages

Happy Friday, folks.  Today kicks off a nice, long weekend here in the States, and if you’re me--and I am--it’s the start of four days off.  Hallelujah!  I’ve been busy as all Hell lately and can use the time.

Let’s get to it.

5 Things on a Friday: Jeb! Makes it Official

Let’s start off with the obvious—the blog’s been kind of dead lately.  That hasn’t affected readership, readerships is actually up, but the number of posts per week is down, so if you’re a daily reader, there hasn’t been much to see.  However, it turns out that blogging follows the 80/20 rule just like every other thing in American business, which is to say that 80% of my readers come here to read at most 20% of my posts, and really, if I’m being honest, it’s probably more accurate to say that 95% of my readers come here to read 5% of my posts, but whatever.  You get the idea.  To the extent that this blog has readers at all, it has them because people want to read the various Dungeons and Dragons posts.  Meanwhile, I’ve finally started the re-writing Sneakatara Boatman and the Crown of Pluto for the third and last time, and since nobody much is missing the filler that comprises most of the blog’s mid-week articles, I’ve let them slide.

You don’t mind, do you?

5 Things on a Friday: Someone You Can X-Ray

I was planning to do a series of comics articles this week, but there wasn’t quite as much news-worthy news out of the Special Edition: NYC Comic Con as I’d expected.  That maybe shouldn’t have come as a surprise considering that the San Diego Comic Con is right around the corner.  Most of the big companies are undoubtedly holding their really big announcements until then, so that leaves us with a hodgepodge again this week -- along with a bonus reading recommendation.

Happy Friday, folks!