Miscellaneous

The videogame industry and I are about the same age. In the 1970s, we played with blocks. We blooped and bleated, the big people gathered around us with kindly smiles of incomprehension. By the mid-'80s, we hurtled toward puberty together. We bounced to synthesized beats, decked in neon and steeped in a culture the old folks labeled a passing fad.

GenCon was a huge success this year, for our community and for the event as a whole. We all had a blast at the Slap and Tickle, which was well attended again this year.

If you're a long time visitor to Gamers With Jobs, you may remember that before the Conference Call we had another podcast called GWJ Radio. It was hosted by Russ Pitts and myself. Since then, Russ has sat on the iron throne at The Escapist and now he's joined Vox Media for their new video game site venture.

The late fall of 2000 found me at a gas station in rural Missouri. Out of the convenience store toddled an elderly man in flannel and suspenders on the arm of a young blonde woman. She was speaking gently to him, taking him gingerly through the gravel lot towards a red Dodge pickup.