It's been a rough year for the magazines I read. I suppose it's just a result of the digital age.
But in the last year, I've seen FHM (US version), Dragon, Dungeon, Inquest Gamer, and now Stuff magazine go the way of the dodo.
Granted, FHM and Stuff weren't huge losses, as they were eye-candy and ads very rarely interrupted by an interesting article. But the others will be missed.
Oh - and when my FHM subscription ended with more then a year left, they "generously" converted my subscription to ESPN the Magazine. That was...useful? I think I've paged through one or two since I've been getting them. Just because I liked images of beautiful women and the occasional funny or interesting article, I must have been a sports guy too.
But back to the other three mags - Dungeon, Dragon and Inquest. Dragon was a general Dungeons and Dragons magazine. There was a bit of everything related to the game in it, and I looked forward to it each month. Dungeon, its sister publication, was targeted at those that ran D&D games. I didn't read this one cover-to-cover often, but was happy getting each in the mail, knowing that there might be something in there I would use in a game someday. Inquest Gamer, published by the folks that deliver Wizard (a mag dedicated to all things comic book) was a nice monthly view at the world of collectible games.
Those were my monthly doses of geek. They will be missed. Yes, both Dungeon and Dragon magazines will go online, but it's just not the same. I LIKE getting content on a printed page. It's easier to read, and frankly, more portable. There are strengths to online, but to me, at least, those do not out-weigh the joy of print.
That's all for now. I guess I have to go chase some darn kids off my lawn.
I completed my Master of Education (in Elementary Education) program!! What a ride... September 7th 2005, until today.
It's been quite a haul.
But I did it. I actually did it!
So, two weeks ago, my friend Matt (yes, yet another one of friends is named Matt -- making three of us in my close group of friends) married his long time girlfriend Renee. It was a very nice wedding ceremony and reception. I wish them all the best!
...and at the reception...being, well, ourselves. Eye patches were a great choice, Jay!
Coudersport, PA:
After a healthy day's work, Matt's Mom has new steps.
...and I managed to not harm myself or anyone else.
Huzzah!
...from the release sin-dig for the last Harry Potter book at my local Borders Bookstore.
So, if you'll excuse me, I have some reading to do. :)
So I got this fortune today at my favorite Thai Resturant in the Pittsburgh Area - Thai Place across from the Waterworks.
The message...is, well...interesting.
So PixelGirl has said I'm "it," and therefore must reveal five unknown things about myself to the world.
That seems pretty easy, as the vast majority of the world has no clue who I am. But I'll play along.
-
The first two tapes of music I bought on my own were Metallica's "Black Album" and Nirvana's "Nevermind". I honestly didn't give one whit about popular music until I was in 7th or 8th grade.
- I was "Student of the Month" in October of my 7th grade year. Among the litany of embarrassing things the PA announcer read off about me the morning it was announced (provided to them my my well-intending Mom) was how Doogie Houser, M.D. and Star Trek: the Next Generationwere my favorite television shows. That was a fun day, I'll tell ya.
- Once, to prove that yes, a stapler was, in fact, out of staples, I demonstrated as much on my thumb. Removing the staple that was not there because the the stapler was empty was surprisingly painful.
- Going way back to the summer between my fourth and fifth grade years, I was a Cub Scout. As a reward for earning my "Whittler-Chip" (or some such) certificate indicating I knew all about how to handle a pocket knife safely, and for keeping my grades up, my Dad rewarded me with my first Swiss Army Knife. It was, in a word, rad.
I still have it.
We went camping that summer, giving me all sorts of opportunities to carve useless things out of pieces of wood and branches. One of the first rules of using a knife is to cut away from your body, so as to not accidentally cut your other hand, which may be holding the object you're whittling, or your body in general. It was one of the first things I had to demonstrate I knew to earn that certificate.
I somehow forgot about that for a moment while sitting in our family's cabin. Moments after the blade had dug itself into the index finger of my left hand I heard my dad approaching from outside. Not wanting him to see I was, in fact, unworthy of handling the gift he gave me, I quickly thrust my hand into a large cooler, and made like I was fishing around for a can of soda-pop. This may have worked, had he not also wanted a beverage, and upon looking into the cooler over my shoulder asked, "Why is the water in the cooler turning red?" - Jim Henson, and his simple messages of love, fun, cooperation and hope have helped shape the adult I eventually became.
Ok, so I've wanted to try out Kaluha's new French Vanilla version for a while now. It's pretty good, I must say.
I've mixed up my own variation of a drink recipe found right on the bottle. For lack of a better name, I call it an "Matthew's Iced Vanilla Latte":
Ingredients:
1 oz Vodka of choice (I used Ketel One, myself)
3 oz of French Vanilla Kaluha
2 oz Starbuck's Iced Coffee
Shake ingredients with ice, strain into a Martini glass.
I garnished mine with 2 chocolate-covered espresso beans.
Quite tasty!
Do you have a drink recipe you think is worth sharing? Let me hear it!
We trekked from the Pittsburgh area to Buffalo, New York -- AND BACK AGAIN -- yesterday, to see the Reel Big Fish/Less Than Jake show. It was a fantastic show. It was my first time seeing Reel Big Fish or Streetlight Manifesto live, and I was impressed.
Less Than Jake put on a great show. I don't want to spoil exactly how it came to be, but circumstances dictated that it was a show that featured their "Losing Streak" album heavily. If you're a fan, I highly recommend you try to catch them on this tour!
We got to the Buffalo area early, so, since Mandy had never seen Niagara Falls, Matt suggested we check it out. I had never done so on the U.S. side, so I was intrigued as well. It was a beautiful day. Here are a couple pics:
It was a fun trip, but boy, that was a lot of driving in one day!
