Topic: Personal Commentary
After taking off the last half of December from the blog, I sat down today to write about some rather big things I have cooking for 2009. It occurred to me, though, that I really oughta close out 2008. So here you go... here's my list of ten things I appreciate the most from 2008.
- I became officially famous.
- I attended the Ben Folds concert. One of the best acts I have ever seen live. Excellent from the opening act (Missy Higgins) to Ben's final encore.
- Jackhole Justin Farmer left WFAA.
- I blogged a lot for Newsarama.
- I got an iPhone. Mock me all you want, but this 'phone' completes me.
- I traveled to St. Louis last year for Fear the Con. It was a small, single day event coordinated by the fine folks at Fear the Boot. Without a doubt, the best gaming con I have ever been to. Sure, there were no celebrity game designers on hand and only one vendor. But this con was all about game and building community I met people there with whom I have maintained friendships throughout the year. In fact two of the guys I met at FtC are now regular members of my local gaming group.
- Energized largely by such RPG podcasts as Fear the Boot, The Podge Cast, and Bear Swarm, I ran and played in and wrote more role playing games in 2008 than in any of the last eight years. These shows have had a direct impact on my desire to game, rekindling that flame. Based on their feedback and commentary, I have also bought more games this year than in any other recent memory (e.g. Savage Worlds, Burning Wheel, Houses of the Blooded, etc.). I have written dozens of pages for my This Empire Earth setting and even ran my players through a sandbox brainstorming session. One might say, for me, 2008 was the year of the game.
- I was asked to write for The Outhouse Wall and was published in the first issue.
- Mark and Libby moved back to town. The Popes were out-of-state for several years. Shortly after returning, Mark and I sat on his patio sipping beer, chatting. We brainstormed a few things and the next thing you know, the Mark Andrew PopeCast (a podcast about music, worship, and points in-between) was born. The first episode (episode 0) went live to the feed on November 30th. Today, our ninth full episode (Politics from the Pulpit) rolled out onto the internets. The podcast scratches a number of itches for me not the least of which is a regular, weekly man-date with Mark, one of the finest people I know.
- Suzanne and I, after eight years of marriage, moved into our dream house.
2008 certainly sucked in a lot of ways, but a lot of good things happened for which I am awfully thankful. I'll chat about plans for 2009 tomorrow...
Happy New Year, y'all!
Aron Head
www.EvilBastard.net
Twitter + AronHead
Posted by Aron Head
at 9:34 PM CST
