Andrew Greenberg

Ranks up there with furniture pr0n (and, just to be clear, NSW)

http://indifferent-cats-in-amateur-porn.tumblr.com/

Ganked from the suddenly back-on-LJ blissful_kaos

Indiegogo: Looks like we need help spreading the word. Lesson number one is that we should have started the publicity two weeks or a month before the campaign kicked off. If you can spread the word to anyone you think might be interested, we'd appreciate it. Lots of good gifts to people who donate. Had well over 100 unique visitors, but only two contributors so far. There are easy tools to use on the Indiegogo site to get the word out. http://www.indiegogo.com/faerieescape?a=261464

This weekend: Georgia Tech presentation went well. Looking forward to seeing everyone at Trek Trax. My first panel is 7 pm tonight (Star Trek v Star Trek). Also, there is a Faerie Escape meetup 2 pm Sunday at the Doubletree hotel.

Finally, it is amazing how many of my friends have birthdays on 4/20 ...

We have begun a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo for the third Faerie Escape (http://www.indiegogo.com/faerieescape?a=261464#). While in the past we have always had to operate on a shoe-string budget, this year we would like to bring in more guests and create a more fully immersive event. Money from the crowdfunding go toward these causes and help immensely.

We managed to create an exceptional event at the first Faerie Escape with very little money, but it showed. We certainly did our best to make up for our lack of coin with an abundance of energy, and the woman who organized our Grand Ball did a fabulous job without money ... but there is so much more we can do.

Another fun aspect of this campaign is the cool gifts we have for participants. Want a feast at the Escape with IK, King of the Trolls? Your own custom-made faerie costume, developed by our own master crafters? Or, best of all, giant original drawings done by legendary artist Charles Vess at our first Faerie Escape. Check out the videos of him drawing while Ari Berk spins great tales, and get a full DVD of the session to go with the art.

I’m looking forward to seeing how it goes. The $3000 sum would allow us to bring in some really good guests, but even if we do not reach it, we will get some good people. In addition, if we get more than the goal, we have some excellent plans on additional events at the Escape. Spread the word!

As my peer group and I age, one thing I notice more is the growth and impact of disorders, psychoses, neuroses (love that term, even though I don't think anyone uses it any more), and other negative mental states (by negative mental states I mean ones that do not serve the conscious desires we have for our lives). Some of this comes from me knowing and being close to more people. I am also more aware of these issues, having seen them in action (and I think we also become more aware of others as we age). However, there is one cause related to us aging that I rarely see mentioned, but which I feel plays a greater and greater role through our lives

When we were younger, we heard and believed that we could do anything. As we aged and chose our paths, certain of those paths closed to us. Often we closed these paths consciously and other times we were unaware that our actions would make others impossible. However, that constant loss of options stays with us. Yes, at one point we could do anything. Now we have made our choices, and to many, these new limits become a weight pressing upon them.

While I used to think complaints about this weight were sometimes a symptom, I now feel the loss of these options is often a cause of these disorders. When young we really do take to heart (as a core personal belief) that we can do anything, but we don't quite comprehend that at some point our choices lessen, usually based on the choices we have made before (not that I am saying life is a Choose Your Own Adventure book), As that comprehension begins to dawn, I think it often has a detrimental impact on our mental health.

This is different from the midlife crisis, which I think often has its roots in this internal conflict. My understanding of midlife crises is that they are dramatic events brought about by this (often unconscious) realization. I also differentiate this from the ennui and angst that we sometimes enjoy and sometimes make fun of. Instead I am talking about the slow, often barely noticeable and only rarely debilitating mental states that continue to grow and shape our lives year after year. I often see it behind odd outbursts of anger, melancholy and the like. It often seems to be linked to a feeling of helplessness, but more often seems to be the cause of that feeling.

Please note that this post is most assuredly NOT directed at anyone on my friends list. Just something that struck me as interesting earlier today.

Remember that so far you do not have the same rights regarding these searches as you do for your phonee and mail

http://pda.physorg.com/news/2011-10-google-demands-info.html

Of all the horrors the Duhbya administration perpetrated on the world, one of the least considered was the Stuxnet worm that was used to attack the Iranian nuclear program. While it set back Iran for a few months, now hundreds of people are reverse engineering it, and if it gets loose in a new version (as it almost undoubtedly will), there really is no telling what may happen.

Anyway, here is an interesting article, even quoting Chris Klaus:

http://www.businessweek.com/printer/magazine/cyber-weapons-the-new-arms-race-07212011.html

As if yesterday's post were not enough, while reviewing the Third Edition of our Fading Suns game today, I just came across the following section:

Ionizing radiation is a horrible thing to experience. It is painful, atrophic, unforgiving, and in every way unpleasant, and it will likely bring creeping death to those even mildly afflicted. Unless they are killed outright, radiation poisoning will destroy a person one cell at the time, causing their very body to breakdown until it is simply too damaged to function, even under constant medical care. For those who manage to prevail, both mild and serious medical problems are likely to remain with them for the rest of their lives as there are few avenues of treatment available.

Had hoped to make the TKK show tonight, but gonna give my back some more rest. Anyone else going to Echo and the Bunnymen Thursday night? http://www.masqueradeatlanta.com/index.php?show_id=3494