The comic book appeal

Comic books.

Y'know, I still remember back in the day when I was young and I'd be riding in the car with my dad, on my way to spend a holiday or summer vacation with him, when we'd inevitably have to stop for gas.  After filling the tank, we'd go inside, we'd load up on snacks and drinks and he would always ask, "Is there anything else you want to get?" He already knew the answer, but he made sure to ask anyway.  Sure enough, before the last words had left his mouth, I was running over the to wire spin rack and grabbing the newest issue of Ghost Rider, Daredevil, Green Lantern, and just about any other comic book that I could.  Dad always knew that those comics would keep me engrossed no matter how long the trip was ... with the happy exception of telling him how cool it was that Johnny Blaze turned into Ghost Rider JUST in time to save the day, or how Hal just HAD to recharge his ring, because his 24 hours was almost up.  It was back then that my love was born for the four color medium and all the action packed in those tiny panels.

Failure is ALWAYS an option.

If you've ever watched an episode of MythBusters, odds are pretty good that you've heard the guys say that "Failure is always an option."  When it comes to scientific study, that's a hard and fast rule.  After all, the "Scientific Method" we all learned in school breaks down as:

• Observation
• Question
• Hypothesis
• Experiment
• Conclusion

Since the conclusion is all about discovering if the hypothesis was correct or not, "failure" constitutes a result and therefore IS an option.  And sometimes, it's the best option to learn from.  So, if failure is a great learning tool in science, why shouldn't it also be one in life?  The simple answer is that it is.

DC Universe Online

If you've been under a rock lately and missed out out on any of the hundreds of television or print ads making up part of its massive marketing campaign, you might not know that Sony Online Entertainment recently gave gamers the opportunity to slip into some spandex and live out all their comic book fantasies with the release of its latest MMO experience, DC Universe Online. I recently wrote a review of the game over at USA Network's Character Arcade, but figured I could use ye ol' blog here to geek out over it a little more.

Ch-ch-changes

If you're reading this and, well, if you've ever been here before this post, you've probably already realized the design changes the blog has gone through.  I decided it was long overdue to spend some time tinkering around with everything to make it a bit more manageable for everyone.  The archives are all working smoothly now, the Digsby chat box is still up (for now) so people can hit me up through the blog, and there are other features I'm planning to toy with over the coming weeks.

Why all the changes?  Simple, actually.  I want to do more with this blog and get back into the swing of things, updating all of you with what's going on, with random news and thoughts, and to genuinely build more on the idea of being active with everyone.  I'll post items here and you're welcome to dish out feedback.  Got a question? Let me know and I'll do my best to answer. Want to hear about a particular subject?  I'll do my best to get on it.  The focus here is be interactive ... to be able to talk to all of you out there and also to be able to listen.

I don't think this will be the final design, but it's a huge jump forward.  I'll probably tweak things a bit here and there until it feels just right to me (which means I'll probably never be done tweaking it).  So, let me know your thoughts and also tell me what you'd like to hear.

Connecting with the audience (or "Where marketing gets it wrong.")

Take a look around and one thing is easy to see ... everyone's got something to sell.  Companies everywhere are all vying for a piece of that consumer pie, but they're all so focused on what they think is the finish line, they lose sight of fact that real commercial success is a marathon, not a sprint.

In my role as a pop culture writer, I've seen companies come and go.  I've seen great projects fly so far under the radar, they may as well have been tunneling underground.  I've also seen projects backed with a huge media blitz collapse under the weight of their own hype. So how can projects fail so spectacularly but in two totally different ways?  Believe it or not, they've got one thing in common ... they've forgotten all about the human element.

Opportunities, expanding horizons, and the hell of tech support.

This has been a crazy bit of time on ye ol' calendar for me.  If it's not one thing, it's another.  Now, I don't necessarily mean it's been bad, just a LOT of juggling and the like.  Good stress, bad stress, crazy stress ... sooner or later I think I may take a couple of days and just "decompress" ... but that's later, and this is now.

So I've been thinking a lot about the work I've done and what's to come.  Y'know, I love what I do and I'm passionate about it.  But honestly there are days I'd love to trade in the "freelance" tag for something just a wee bit more stable.  It'd just be nice to have a place to, as I've put it, hang my hat.  Like just about anything in life, there are perks and pitfalls to working solo and to being part of the team.  I've played on one side of the fence for a while, and boy that grass on the other side is looking pretty damned green right about now.

It's a whole new year ...

Well folks, 2010 has come and gone ... and as far as I'm concerned, good riddance. It was a hell of a year for me, as you probably know if you've been keeping up with ye ol' blog here. And while 2011's engine has had a little trouble turning over, I've made it a mission to get it moving forward with all the horsepower I can muster. I'm thinking it'll at least make for an interesting adventure.

TRON: Evolution and the Dissenting Opinion

With Christmas having come and gone for another year, it was time to crack into the goodies that Santa left me.  Believe it or not, despite the nature of my work, I actually only got ONE video game for Christmas this year.  That game was TRON: Evolution for the PS3.

And I raaaan ... I ran so far awaaaayyyy.

Yep, of all the things to stick in my head, it's Flock of Seagulls. Of course, it's appropriate when you consider the day yesterday.  For those that miss my quick and (not so) dirty Twitter or Facebook updates, I flew out to Tucson, AZ the on Wednesday for a meeting on Thursday morning.  As far as the trip itself, I was surprised by how much I liked the area.  That's not to say I went in thinking I'd hate it, but it was a lot different than I expected ... and I was pleasantly surprised.  I'll have more on trip wheres, whys, and howfortos of the trip later, but I digress.

Unwinding with an Assassin

I decided to try and decompress a little bit this week with all the craziness that's been going on, so I ended up picking up a copy of Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood for the 360.  Y'know, I realize that it's been a while since I bought a game solely for me to have fun with.  No work, no reviews ... just plain ol' pop in the game and unwind.

One down ... more to come?

Well ... I came, I saw, but I didn't quite conquer.

I got the word on Monday that I just missed the mark on the job I flew out for last week.  Did I "blow it" like I thought I did?  Hard to say, but it was a really close race.  And  if you ask any professional athlete, they'll tell you from experience that in a close race, even the slightest mistake can cost you the game.  Here's the thing, though ... we're all human and we all are prone to making mistakes.  The trick is to learn from them and push forward.

Aaannnddd .... we're back

In the last post I mentioned that I was flying out of town for a job interview.  The interview was up and out in Denver, CO and it was a beautiful place to visit.  But as much as I might have wanted to take in the sights, or even try my hand at a little skiing for the first time in my life, I was there with a purpose.  There were people waiting to see me, waiting to grill me over an open fire like a Cornish hen, and waiting to see if I had the "right stuff" to fill the position they needed.  So, how do I think the interview went?

In my mind, I blew it ...

Moving forward ...

In the last post, I told you about the situation with my mom, how it affected me, and an initial bit of advice for those of you that might feel a overwhelmed and out of options.  Well, it's time for me to continue with my update for the past few months ... but keep reading through the rough spots, there's another pearl of wisdom at the end of things.

It's been a long time ...

Hey guys and gals. Yeah, I know I've said time and time again that I'd be posting here more often, and I definitely have meant to. Unfortunately, it's been a hell of a year and with so much stuff going on, the blog kinda took a back seat to life. And believe it or not, at different times over the past eight months, I've actually been at the very point I am now ... staring at the "New Post" screen and trying to figure out the best way to talk to everyone about what's been going on, but never coming up with the "right words" in my mind. Today, though, I'm just writing the words as I see fit. Trust me, there's a lot to catch you up on. And while I don't know how many of you out there still read this, I do want to say this is probably this most heartfelt and (to me) important things I may ever write.

A hard day's night ...

And I've been working like a dog ...

Yup. It's been one of those days. Very little sleep last night due to a pulled muscle in my shoulder. But on the upside, I've been wide awake with a freight train of thoughts chugging along in my head.

2010 ... the redeux

Okay folks ... yes, it's me. Yes, I'm posting here again (dusting off cobwebs and everything). I've constantly popped in here and said "I'm back" and "More to come" ... and then disappeared for months at a time again. Honestly, I can sit here and make all sorts of excuses, and all have some validity. Issues, both professional and personal, kept creeping up and chipping away at my time. There's been a lot of chaos, as I try to get a couple of projects of my own going forward while juggling other work, and still balance having some semblance of a "normal" life. Then, thanks to quick and easy use of Twitter (which you can find me on here), I started doing updates there and just let this slide away. Eventually, Stacking the Deck just faded for me. After all, I didn't even know if anyone was still out there paying attention to this.

Okay, so where was I?

Despite being just a wee bit older now (and having had a few unusually chaotic evenings), I seem to remember telling you guys that next up on the blog would be some tips on writing. I've thought long and hard about this every time I get asked. Over time, I started to realize, I've usually answered with the same few things every time. Once I even went in depth and wrote it all down. I happened to be digging around in some files the other day, when lo and behold, I happened upon the old notes (which I'd already used once years back in response to Dan Hsu's blog over at 1-Up).

"So how the hell did YOU get into this?"

That's a question I get asked all the time. How did someone like me into this industry, writing about things like comic books and video games? Truthfully? Well, a lot of it had to do with luck. But you see, luck is a funny thing. Luck will have a habit of presenting you with opportunities in life. But what you DO with those opportunities? That's all on you.

Dusting off ye ol' blog

Okay okay ... yes, I've neglected this blog. It's been, what, six or seven months since the last time I came around here? I'm not going to toss out any bullshit excuses either. The truth is, I got wrapped up in my work at the time, and the longer I went without updating the blog, the less I thought about it. Hell, I'd almost forgotten about the blog (I said "ALMOST"). Anyway, I'm back, and I figured it's time to run a quick update by you guys and catch you up to speed on what's going on these days before, hopefully, getting back into the swing of things here.

Words of Wisdom from Raymond Chandler

From a letter Chandler wrote to the editor of The Atlantic Monthly about a proofreader who changed his text:

"By the way, would you convey my compliments to the purist who reads your proofs and tell him or her that I write in a sort of broken-down patois which is something like the way a Swiss-waiter talks, and that when I split an infinitive, God damn it, I split it so it will remain split, and when I interrupt the velvety smoothness of my more or less literate syntax with a few sudden words of barroom vernacular, this is done with the eyes wide open and the mind relaxed and attentive. The method may not be perfect, but it is all I have."