I like stories. In all the various forms they come in. I’ve been this way most of my life. I think it started with books, but I appreciate a good story, even when it’s wrapped in a lot of fancy technology.

It began with a live for books. That came once I got basic reading down. It only expanded once I got into a grade in school where “story time” was a thing. I secretly longed for this part of the day a bit more than recess.

I listened to The Hobbit, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, and Watership Down. I was hooked. School libraries were somewhat small, so I quickly moved up to the local public library and my library card was an essential, everyday carry item.

It wasn’t just books though. I loved TV shows and movies, as well as video games. Still do.

Now, storytelling is usually a key aspect of many games (sometimes in sports video games as well.) Some games are even just basically interactive stories, with the player only making minor branching choices, or even being in nearly complete control as the main protagonist, or sharing that with other players, in small to massively multiplayer online role-playing games, like World of Warcraft. 

In all cases, it’s whatever story is being told (or guided towards) that draws me in. The awesome thing about loving stories is there are so many to experience. Running out is simply not an option, and it’s as easy as listening to another nearby human being.

University of Illinois Arboretum Pete via Compfight

After a wonderful weekend, Mother Nature has decided to take a chill pill. That’s what I think from here in southern California, at least. My apologies to my fellow Americans in the eastern part of our country. It’s far from the pleasantness we have here.

OK, there is a bit more seriousness out there. Check out this post for deeper insight:

Not sure what #MicroblogMondays is? Read the inaugural post which explains the idea and how you can participate too. ******* I read an interesting thought from Abraham Twerski (The Enemy Within).&n…

Source: #MicroblogMondays 134: Fish Love – Stirrup Queens

Photo Credit: Glenn Carstens-Peters

It’s been a few weeks since the last wrap-up post. Things have happened. Quite a few things. I’ve seen a few more movies and even reviewed one that was excellent.

This week, however, saw a few things I hadn’t expected or that I forgot were about to come up. The first was that I saw the launch of a YouTube channel. This one’s special because it’s dedicated to gaming, but even more important, the person starting it (Peter Saddington) intends to pursue the great dream of many gamers (myself included): to play games as a full-time occupation. Take a look:

As you can see, Peter’s got quite the passion for gaming and for doing what’s super scary at its core – committing publicly to being serious about making a living pursuing his passion. He even is sharing that with nearly complete strangers like myself. He feels like he can make an assessment of a game in the first 15 minutes of play. I think there will be a few exceptions, but that might just be due to how some games are designed.

I had the chance actually to chat with Peter on the phone briefly this evening. You can feel the seriousness and energy he has, even on a short call. I can’t help but want to see him succeed, and I’ll try to help as best I can. I didn’t mention this blog, but I might bring it up at a later time. I’ll probably share more of his videos on social media, however. He’s currently reviewing gaming PC configurations that fit his budget, which is a good idea, since a very high-performance rig is a necessity, especially for somebody that hasn’t been deep in the gaming scene for multiple years.

The next thing I hadn’t reminded myself strongly about was the US premiere of the Sword Art Online movie. I purchased my ticket quite a few months ago and set a calendar item. I got a couple of reminders from the ticket company, via email. That helped me to get a bit hyped for it. I’ll probably see it again once it’s in wider release this coming week.

That’s all for now. There are some fun and festivities this weekend, but that’ll be for another post. I hope everyone else’s weeks have been good. It’s March! Things are warming up in the northern hemisphere. Let’s enjoy the changing season.