Spes Magna Games

What follows is a short speech I gave at my the party celebrating my 25th wedding anniversary. The picture embiggens if clicked.

As you know, Trina and I celebrate our 25th anniversary with you here today. As we prepared for today’s festivities, I had cause to reflect on life and love. Trina is certainly the love of my life, but she was not my first love. I saw my first love in a movie theater way back in 1977. We didn’t get a chance to speak, although I would later imagine what we would have talked about. I still smile when I remember her, this first love of mine.

And she still impresses me, a bit more than 40 years later. Of course, she was beautiful. But, more importantly, she was brave. She was forthright. She was committed to making the world a better in place, but not in some grandiose way. She was no utopian dreamer. Instead, she was practical. She saw a problem, and she did not hesitate to be the one to stand up say, “This is wrong. I’ll fix it.”

There are many reasons why my first love remained unrequited. First, I was 10. Also, her love belonged to another. For a long time, I couldn’t understand what she saw in him, this Bernard. He was a bumbler. He was a bit of a coward. He was kind of dull.

But, as I watched and learned, I saw that my first love’s love for that dull bumbler had an amazing effect. Her love for him made him a better person. He bumbled less. He acted with bravery and honor. His dullness transformed into a sharpness of character.

Part of me still loves my first love. Part of me will always love her. By now, you’re all wondering, who was this remarkable lady? Trina is wondering as well, because I forbade her to read this little speech.

So, I’ll tell you. My first love was none other than Miss Bianca, the Hungarian representative to the Rescue Aid Society, that remarkable organization of mice featured in Disney’s The Rescuers and The Rescuers Down Under.

At age 10, I was in love with a cartoon mouse. It was a relationship doomed before it could ever start. But don’t be sad. I found my Miss Bianca, and she is everything that cartoon mouse was and more.

The Church teaches us that marriage is a channel by which God’s grace works the lives of the family. How true this is. Without Trina playing Miss Bianca to my Bernard, voiced by the legendary Bob Newhart, I would not be the man I am today. I’m convinced that whatever man I might have been would be both a sad and a poor man.

Tags: Catholic, Not Gaming Related

As I write this, I’m 50 years old and seriously under-employed. I left my teaching position largely due to health concerns. I’ve had one heart attack. That was seven years ago. I had a heart attack while driving me and the family home after church one fine Sunday morning. I still remember that next Monday morning, waking up in the hospital with tubes and monitors attached to me, and thinking, “Well, at least I woke up.”

A couple of days later, the day after having my femoral artery snaked to look for blockages and cardiac damage, I got to take an actual shower for the first time since the previous Sunday morning. A few hours later, I got to go home and lay on my couch, facing the television with the remote control within easy reach. That was Wednesday, if I recall correctly. I was back to work that week (against doctor’s orders).

That first week, I did something I’d not done in a while. I felt grateful for waking up. I felt grateful for a hot shower. I felt grateful for a comfortable couch and a remote control that works. I felt grateful for the large number of people in my life who care for me. For the first time in a long time, I truly appreciated G. K. Chesterton’s observation, “When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.”

I had been taking waking up in the morning for granted. I’d been taking couches, remote controls, and hot showers for granted. I’d even been taking my friends, family, students, and co-workers for granted. It’s perhaps a poor reflection on the quality of my character that it took a heart attack to shake the scales from my eyes so that I could see better the very many things I have in my life to be grateful for. I ought to be especially grateful for the things in my life that I’ve done nothing to earn but that I have regardless.

Which brings me to another of Chesterton’s observations: “I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.”

There are so many things in my life that don’t have to be the way they are. They could be another way, but they’re not. How I cannot be struck by a sense of wonder by my good fortune? Sure, things aren’t perfect. Things will never be perfect. That’s not my point.

Consider food, for example. Why does it taste good? Is it inconceivable that the world would have arrived at an arrangement wherein food had no special flavor at all? Imagine that all food tasted like steamed asparagus. I like steamed asparagus, but I wouldn’t want all of my food to taste like it. But, if it did, I’d still eat. I’d have to still eat. Would I enjoy eating? Would anyone? I’m not sure about the answers to those questions.

But food does (or, at least, can) taste good, and I’m used to that, so I take it for granted rather than being filled with gratitude and wonder. That seems a shame because, if Chesterton is right (and he almost always is), gratitude and wonder are essential to happiness.

Tags: Catholic, Not Gaming Related

I’ve watched four movies recently, and I recommend all of them without reservation.

Wife Katrina, daughter Adrienne, and I watched Chasing 3000 Saturday evening. Here’s the trailer. This film stars Trevor Morgan and Rory Culkin as Mickey and Roger, two brothers from Pittsburgh who move to California when their mother (Lauren Holly) acts on doctor’s advice that the climate in the Golden State would help Roger’s muscular dystrophy related cardio-pulmonary problems. Mickey hates the move, mostly because he believes that he is asked to sacrifice too much for his younger brother, but also because the move takes him away from his grandfather (Seymour Cassel) and their beloved Pittsburgh Pirates and Roberto Clemente.

Like all the best baseball movies, Chasing 3000 is not really about baseball. It’s about family, sacrifice, growing up, and, most movingly, about the very real impact that a public figure worthy of admiration can have on the lives of his or her fans. Roberto Clemente was a class act in so many ways. For example, in August 1972, he was 30 hits away from 3,000 career hits. As the final week of the 1972 season approached, Clemente was well on his way to achieving this milestone. It was Thursday, 28 September 1972, playing against the Phillies, when Clemente got hit 2,999 off Steve Carlton. The next game was in Philadelphia, and the game after that was in Pittsburgh. Clemente had himself removed from the line-up so that he could get the magic 3,000th hit in front of his hometown fans. Clemente almost didn’t get it. He earned his 3,000th hit on his very last at-bat ever.

I also watched Imprint. Here’s its trailer. Starring Tonantzin Carmelo as a Lakota prosecuting attorney, Imprint seems a rare thing among movies focused on Native Americans in that the principal cast and the writer are Native Americans. This movie is a low-key supernatural thriller about a woman ashamed of her heritage coming to grips with her history, both as a Lakota as well as a member of a troubled family. The special effects aren’t great. None of the acting really shines. That said, Imprint is an effective, well-written ghost-themed mystery wrapped around family melodrama.

Radius, starring Diego Klattenhoff, Charlotte Sullivan, and Brett Donahue, is next. Of course, there’s a trailer. The film focuses on the growing, tense relationship between Liam (Klattenhoff) and Jane (Sullivan), two strangers who somehow ended up together in the cab of a truck before the truck leaves the road and rolls over in a field. Both emerge from the accident with no memories. Liam discovers that any living creature that comes within about 50 feet of him immediately dies. He and Jane together discover that not only is Jane immune to this effect, but that her presence near Liam prevents Liam’s deadly effects. Radius is a taut thriller that slowly reveals Liam and Jane’s connection through flashbacks leading to a final, chilling revelation.

And, lastly, son Christopher, daughter Adrienne, and I hit the theater to catch a matinee of A Quiet Place.

I won’t go too much into the plot of this film beyond this link for the trailer. There’s more than enough information out there on the Internet about A Quiet Place. Even Bishop Robert Barron, the Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, praises the virtues of this film in a thoughtful review that includes some pretty major spoilers. Director and star John Krasinski has helped make a masterful film that, to paraphrase one review, links A-List performances with a B-Movie plot to craft a genuinely scary story. A Quiet Place ought to establish Krasinski as one of the new Hollywood heavyweights in both acting and directing, and, as good as he is, Emily Blunt and Millicent Simmonds are even better.

And that’s it for this post. Nothing game-related for today, but instead some recommendations for four good to astonishing motion pictures.

Tags: Not Gaming Related

Well, it’s official. Hurricane Harvey has done his damage for the most part. Months to years of rebuilding await. Fortunately, I’ve been little affected. A tree in my backyard split near into thirds. It’ll have to come down, but it’s not an emergency. I’ve had electricity, Internet, food, clean water, and shelter throughout, so I’ve got nothing to complain about and a great deal to be thankful for. Not everyone in and around Houston can say that same thing.

If you’re looking to help, I recommend both Catholic Charities and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. If you’re actually in the affected area, please check in with whatever local shelters or missions might be nearby. For example, not too far from my home is the Mission of Yahweh, which helps homeless women and children and needs food, water, diapers, et cetera.

Once I’m back to work, probably after Labor Day, I’ll get in touch directly with my students for the first time in a week. While the school has suffered no damage, I don’t know about my students’ homes. I hope and pray they’re all safe and dry. Once I have a better idea about their needs post-flood, I’ll look at putting together a special bundle or two of Spes Magna products to help pay for lost books, school supplies, uniforms, et cetera.

Finally, here’re some encounters for adventurers during a flood.

Tags: Catholic, game play, Not Gaming Related

So, Wednesday through Friday of last week, I was in Austin attending a classical education conference spearheaded by the Circe Institute. Lots of smart people talking smartly about smart things related to the best way to educate children. I sat in on some fascinating sessions, including one that explained a basic lesson format that encourages something at least approaching Socratic discussion in math classes as an aid to memory. I have hopes that implementing those ideas will help my students this coming school year.

Unfortunately, there were some downsides. I woke up at about 0430 each morning with a migraine that I still haven’t completely shaken, but at least the pain is down to a very dull throb that is easy to ignore if I keep occupied. The conference was held in the Hyatt Regency. For the price, the rooms seemed small, especially my second room that I ended up sharing with a fellow teacher. The hotel-provided breakfasts and lunches weren’t that good. I ate out for breakfast one day and for lunch another day.

For breakfast, I had the French toast and coffee at Snooze: An A.M. Eatery. The food was good, but pricey for French toast. The menu of alcoholic breakfast cocktails was intriguing, but I abstained. For late lunch, I hit Polvos and had some tasty enchiladas and several glasses of water. I was on foot hoofing it about 3.4 miles round trip from the hotel to San Jose Catholic Church for evening Mass in a charming yet simple chapel. I walked around the parish grounds a bit, visting the small shrine to Our Lady of Fatima before walking back to the hotel.

I was about 1930 by the time I made it back to near the hotel. I stopped at Aussie’s Grill & Beach Bar to knock back a couple pints of local Live Oak Brewing Company‘s HefeWeizen with bourbon chasers. After this, my headache was mostly gone, so I went to bed to get a few hours sleep before the pain would wake me up again.

Thursday evening, I drove down the road to Tribe Comics & Games for Thursday-night games. Beforehand, I popped into the Kerbey Lane Cafe for some shrimp and grits. Tasty.

After dinner, I walked across the parking lot to Tribe Games & Comics. I was dropped into a group of six at a table getting ready to play four hours of D&D’s most recent edition. I’d not played 5E before, and I’d not done anything d20 System related for years. I don’t own a single 5E book, nor am I likely to unless someone just gives them to me.

I was given an already-made, some what generic human barbarian to play. I named him Anarch Greywulf. Player and character introductions were made all around. I was remiss and made no notes, so I can’t tell you who the people in the pictures are. They played a cleric, a fighter of some sort, a paladin, a bard, a sorcerer (I think), and a luchador-style monk. Our adventure revolved around breaking a bandit out of jail so that we could get information about a pending meeting between a bandit chief and a wicked sorceress that threatened the peace of the region.

It was an enjoyable four hours in a way-crowded gaming space. It was loud, and I’m pretty sure I missed more than one key point because I couldn’t quite hear what the DM or the other players were saying. Still, we had fun. Our characters rescued the bandit, killing an enraged and escaping minotaur in the process while the tower burned down around them. Anarch walked boldly into the bandit camp, dropped a few names, and was escorted to a tent where he was told to wait. While this went on, the rest of the party snuck up on the meeting point. Anarch befriended “Little” Eric, one of the bandits. The monk was spotted after getting too close. Chaos ensued.

Anarch convinced “Little” Eric that owl-omened treachery was afoot, and thus that NPC aided our party against the sorcereress’s kobold, orc, and owlbear minions. During the battle, our characters ran roughshod over the enemies on both sides, preventing any sort of evil alliance and probably collecting a nice bunch of treasure as well. I’m not sure on the latter since it was getting late. I didn’t stick around for the postgame report in the parking lot.

As I’ve said, it was a fun game. It’s not going to make me rush out and buy 5E books or find a local 5E game to play in. Not really my cup of tea any more. Games like Dungeon World, Monster of the Week, and Fate Accelerated fit the bill more nowadays, and shortly my little gaming group here in Houston, Texas, will start a new campaign using Barbarians of Lemuria.

Also, it’s good to be back home. Austin is a nice place to visit, but it’s not where the heart is.

So, a big “Thanks!” to the folks at Tribe Games & Comics. If I’m ever back in Austin on a Thursday, I’ll try to fit another game into my schedule.

Tags: Catholic, game play, Not Gaming Related