This is a piece I wrote for school that I'm very proud of.
I am told I have an unusual view on Shakespeare’s plays; I think the majority of them are very pro-woman. I think Will has a high regard for women and shows this in most of his plays. Certainly some characters such as Ophelia are very much products of both the narrative and their time. It’s also entirely possible that my view of these plays all the way from the back row of 2014 is afforded me a view of things that just aren’t there. As such I can not argue with anyone that feels that Shakespeare feels women are weak and in need of saving. Since this is my paper, we’ll go with my theory and a feminist lens.
I think the way Shakespeare uses Othello to show women as the stronger of the sexes is through the plays primary device. Othello toys with the idea of when people are willing and able to do the right thing. The play itself is a series of people being given two choices, one right and one dubious. The trick of Othello is that every time a choice is offered, it’s packaged in a way that makes them look the other way around. The fun of it is asking the characters and the audience, can you tell what the right choice is?
That’s why this play works; the morale dilemmas start small. “Do you think you should tell her father? Why don’t you guys spend more time together, you’re old friends? Why are they spending some much time together?” Then the characters start down these paths of slowly escalating morale decisions until they’ve arrived at the top of a cliff and they have no idea how they got there. That’s when the big questions come. “She can’t possibly be happy; do you think you should save her from her marriage? Isn’t that your handkerchief? I think Desdemona is cheating on you, do you think you should do something about that?”
It’s these morale decisions and how they are handled the various characters that make it so a pro-woman narrative. Part of this is that I believe Shakespeare knew this was going to be viewed differently by men and women. A clue to this is that the only characters who make the morale choice every time are the women. They unfailingly make the morale choice even when it threatens their lives.
The second reason for this is Desdemona. She is the single most important aspect in this play. Arguably, without her nothing else in this play would happen. Everything hinges on the fact that she exists. It’s also notable that other than to her father at the very beginning of the play, I don’t remember anyone talking about her beauty. The characters of the play talk about a number of other aspects: charm, grace, cleverness, and caring. She is portrayed as a gentle and loving soul; it is assumed she is beautiful.
For all Desdemona’s importance she is also a very flat character with little development and is relegated to second or even third tier status. It should also be pointed out that the only characters who have developed personalities in the play are Othello, Iago, and Emilia, though to a lesser extent. As with Desdemona, Emilia always makes the right choice, she is also the only character that figures out Iago’s plot. She then reveals it knowing that he has made her an accomplice to it through lies and will most likely be put to death.
I think Shakespeare wrote this way on purpose. Partially it would be because he would have written this play for Queen Elizabeth. Some of the things I’ve read over the years would indicate she was very clever, the fact that she ruled England at a time when nobody thought she could sort of speaks to this. I think having been exposed to her Shakespeare would have realized this and counted on her picking up these little things.
I also think Shakespeare tended to write strong female characters knowing that women were going to see his plays he wanted to have something in them for that portion of the audience. That’s why he tends to write very strong female characters. Everyone from Juliette, who bucked the system and her family’s generations old feud to marry the man she loved, despite being overtly emotional and teenagerie. You follow her through to Kate who was not only the title character of her play, all be it an insulting title, depending on how you read the final speech in that play Kate wins.
I think Shakespeare knew the secret to being a popular playwright and entertainer and that was to include things in your work for both men and women. That way both groups would want to come see his plays, which we have proven today in movie theaters that when you can accomplish that you will do better. It’s why every superhero movie has a love interest crammed into it whether it makes sense or not.
Shakespeare wrote his plays with characters for the men to root for and ones for the women to root for. At the end of every play the men won, unless you were able to look at the play through a slightly tilted angle. I think Shakespeare relied on women to be able to tilt just enough.
These are the reasons I think Shakespeare wrote the way he did. Not only in Othello but in all of his plays Shakespeare has a tradition of strong women. Look at “Twelfth Night” where the lead character of Viola pretends to be a man, holds a job, inadvertently steals a woman from the Duke, and wins a duel. After which the Duke learns that his servant and best friend with whom he drinks, fences, and gambles is woman. His reaction to this is to immediately marry her. If that isn’t Will saying women are just as strong, capable, and cunning as us and when you find one that con go toe to toe with you, marry her; then I don’t know what is.
Let me know what you think. Post below or head over to my Facebook page and leave a message there. You can also follow me on Twitter @stevemayne2. Also feel free to look at my Youtube.
Friday, April 18, 2014
Sunday, March 30, 2014
The Walk Home
*A quick note*
I wrote this story set in the world of Malifaux, a tabletop miniatures game I enjoy. While I don't believe being familiar with the world of Malifaux is necessary to enjoy the story you may miss out on a few of the references and hints about the end of the tale. To give you the basics, Malifaux is a mixing of Victorian, western, Wuxia, Lovecraftian, steampunk, fantasy, horror. It takes place on a parallel world in the late 1890's.
This story takes place between the fourth rule book and the fifth in the Malifaux timeline. In other words between Avatars and the Ten Thunders. for those of you wondering where this happens at.
And thus we begin...
She loved her fancy new pink dress. It cascaded down to the floor in layers separated by glossy white lace and when she twirled in front of the mirror it billowed like a balloon. She wobbled for a moment, unsteady on the new heels she just gotten, knee-high boots of white leather that laced all the way up the front. Heels just like all the other girls; no, the other ladies wore. She looked in the mirror one last time and again spotted the speck of red on the hem, from when the nice dressmaker had been poked. It was small though and she just knew it would come out eventually. She smiled to her mirror self and they giggled together.
She smiled down at the dressmaker, he had been a wonderful craftsman, and his love of the work really showed in the small details. She smoothed down her dress one last time and gathered the long thin handbag, called a clutch, made for holding things she might need like a fan, bits of hard candy, or possibly makeup like the lip covering the pretty women in the saloons wore. She turned and walked from the shop and into the dark Malifaux night.
The street lamps had been lit in an ever failing attempt to keep the darkness and its inhabitants at bay. She looked past the street lamps and watched the starts shimmer against the darkened sky. She walked off alongside the cobblestone street listening to the clop, clop, clop of her new boots on the sidewalk. Even though it was late there were still a few people walking about at night. A young couple walked along holding hands, gruff union members wandered from saloon to saloon, a few walked alone, and for a brief moment she thought she saw a little boy in a night dress skipping up an alleyway.
She heard the bells from a nearby clock tower ring out the hour and she counted each hit. “Nine. Ten. Eleven. I am running late.” She started to walk away with a little more purpose in her strides; she had somewhere to be. She waited a moment for a coach to pass and then moved quickly across the street. Her hurry and her new heels got the better of her and as she stepped up on the walk she misjudged the height and caught her toes. With a quick cry of surprise she fell forward and into the arms of a passing young man.
“I got you.”
She smiled up at him, “Thank you for catching me.” She allowed him to help her right herself. She leaned against him for a moment, “I got these fine new shoes and I’m just absolutely clumsy in them.”
“Are you all right Miss?”
“I’m fine, thank you for asking.” She placed her hand on his forearm and thought she could be a few minutes late. “I’m so embarrassed.”
“Don’t you be embarrassed Miss, some of those shoes are right impossible to walk in.” His smile it reached his blue eyes and curled his mouth just enough to show off his teeth. He was young too, maybe a hair past twenty. He detached himself slightly to reach down and pick up a new looking Stetson, that was quite out of place with his fine suit and tie. He dusted it off taking care to get it back into a good shape.
“My, what a fine looking hat.”
“Thank you miss, it was a gift from a marshal friend of mine.”
“A marshal,” she caught her breath and fanned herself with her hand, “not a Death Marshal? Are you with the Guild?”
“Yes miss. I am.”
“Are you a Death Marshal as well?”
“No. Nothing quite that exciting. I’m a doctor and a dentist, occasionally a veterinarian. I don’t even know how to use a gun.” he looked around them for a moment and then looked back to her, “I don’t mean to be forward miss, but are you by yourself?”
“Yes, I had some business at a shop up the road, and it took a bit longer than anticipated.”
“I’m afraid I can’t allow this. It’s just not safe for a young lady to be out at night by herself in this city.”
“I don’t have very far to go. Just a few blocks.”
“I would feel better if you allowed me to escort you.”
“I don’t even know your name.”
“I apologize, you are quite correct.” He reached up and removed his hat, “my name is Malcolm, and you are?”
She began to speak and suddenly jumped, pressing up against him, “what was that?” She looked off down the street, her eyes scanning the now empty darkness.
Malcolm followed her gaze, stepping forward to be in front of her just slightly. “I don’t see anything.”
“Maybe I should let you walk me.”
“Where to?”
“Mrs. Downey’s Orphanage, over on fifth street.”
“I know the way, I live near Mrs. Downey‘s. We should be there in two shakes.” He began walking with her, moving to place himself between her and the street. After a few blocks he began speaking again, “Do you live there?”
“No, I’m meeting my…someone.”
“I see.”
“Oh, nothing like that. It’s my, well, she wants me to call her mother, but I haven’t felt particularly maternal towards her in a while.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. My mothers Earthside back in Boston. I miss her terribly, but we write. I may go home for a visit next month for the holidays.”
“I’ve never been to Boston. Is it nice?”
“It’s amazing. I love it. Malifaux reminds me of it a bit. The streets and architecture are similar, none of the monsters though, and seafood. Amazing seafood, other than my family, I miss it the most.” He stared off into the night ahead for a long moment.
“It sounds wonderful. Maybe I’ll go someday.”
“You should come up to Boston. I mean go. I mean…I’m sorry, that sounded just…”
She placed her arm through his, “It’s okay, I know what you meant.”
Malcolm smiled at her and patted her hand where it rested in the crook of his elbow. They walked along like that for a few more minutes until she started to turn down an alley. Malcolm pulled up short and tugged her back towards him. “We should keep walking.”
“But the orphanage is right on the other side of this alley.”
“This time of night, those aren’t safe. If we head up two more blocks and cross over we’ll be back this way in no time.”
“That’ll take too long and I’m already late. I go this way all the time.”
“Maybe during the day, but right now there could be anything down that alley. I get a lot of people on my table that walk down alleys at night; it isn’t safe.”
“You’re being silly.” She tugged on his arm, slightly more forcefully than was necessary.
“No. We need to walk around.”
She let go of his hand and half stepped into the alley.
A new voice, gruff and dirty, hissed from the darkness, “You should have listened to the fine young man.” The loud click of a hammer being set on a gun echoed off the walls.
She turned too quickly to face the alley and stumbled on her heels. Malcolm moved forward, stopping her fall and stepping in front of her before she had completely gotten her self righted. “Stay behind me,” he whispered to her.
“That’s lovely. It’s nice to see a good solid lad. I took up a young couple just the other day and he pushed her into me and run off. Gives me hope to see a man put himself between me and his fine young lady.”
“What do you want?” Malcolm’s voice was steady and measured.
The voice let out a dust chocked cough. “Any script you got on you, maybe some jewelry.”
Malcolm reached into his pocket and pulled out a wad of bills. The shadowy figure moved forward enough to present a vague shadow, the glint of metal coming from his hand. Malcolm tossed the bills underhand and the shadow caught them. “That’s a fine watch you got there.”
Malcolm took a moment to undo his pocket watch and toss it into the alley as well. “And now ma’am, I’ll be having your purse.”
“I don’t have anything in it; it’s new.”
“Please ma’am. Every young girl keeps a little something in her purse.”
Malcolm whispered over his shoulder, “Don’t anger him.”
She opened the purse and began to reach her hand inside. “I’m telling you there’s nothing in here you want.”
The voice stepped fully into the light revealing a grubby unwashed moth eaten suit, mismatched shoes, and a greasy black bowler resting on a nest of oily black hair. “Give me that.” He snatched forward and grabbed at the purse his fingers closing on her hand. Malcolm moved forward quickly, and punched the man knocking him backwards into the alley. His hand still gripping hers he pulled her with him into the darkness. There was a sharp bang from the gun, and the muzzle flash illuminated the alley for a brief second.
Candy lunged forward and a flash of silver broke the shadows as she pulled the long silver scissors from her purse and stabbed into the voice’s stomach. He staggered backwards, and raised the gun to defend him. She moved forward and took the weapon from him tossing it down the alley.
She stood there for a long moment being sure to hold the hem of her dress up to keep any more blood from getting on it; she would not make that mistake again. The gunman slowly fell to his knees, the crimson trickle pooling around him his life slowly ebbed away. She smiled and cleaned her scissors on the man’s jacket.
Candy walked to the mouth of the alley and looked at Malcolm lying on the cobblestones. His blue eyes were devoid of the twinkle they had held just a few minutes before. He now stared blankly at the stars above them. The pool of blood spread from his chest where the bullet had struck him.
Candy stared at his face for a long time unsure what to do. Finally she said, “thank you,” without really knowing why.
end
The Character of Candy is a creation of Wyrd Miniatures.
I hope you enjoyed the story. If you're interested in more on Malifaux you can read my review of the second edition rules here. Or if you'd like to see more about the world and you can check out Wyrd Miniatures website here. Let me know what you thought of the story, by leaving a comment or heading over to facebook and mentioning it there. You can also find me on Twitter @stevemayne2.
I wrote this story set in the world of Malifaux, a tabletop miniatures game I enjoy. While I don't believe being familiar with the world of Malifaux is necessary to enjoy the story you may miss out on a few of the references and hints about the end of the tale. To give you the basics, Malifaux is a mixing of Victorian, western, Wuxia, Lovecraftian, steampunk, fantasy, horror. It takes place on a parallel world in the late 1890's.
This story takes place between the fourth rule book and the fifth in the Malifaux timeline. In other words between Avatars and the Ten Thunders. for those of you wondering where this happens at.
And thus we begin...
She loved her fancy new pink dress. It cascaded down to the floor in layers separated by glossy white lace and when she twirled in front of the mirror it billowed like a balloon. She wobbled for a moment, unsteady on the new heels she just gotten, knee-high boots of white leather that laced all the way up the front. Heels just like all the other girls; no, the other ladies wore. She looked in the mirror one last time and again spotted the speck of red on the hem, from when the nice dressmaker had been poked. It was small though and she just knew it would come out eventually. She smiled to her mirror self and they giggled together.
She smiled down at the dressmaker, he had been a wonderful craftsman, and his love of the work really showed in the small details. She smoothed down her dress one last time and gathered the long thin handbag, called a clutch, made for holding things she might need like a fan, bits of hard candy, or possibly makeup like the lip covering the pretty women in the saloons wore. She turned and walked from the shop and into the dark Malifaux night.
The street lamps had been lit in an ever failing attempt to keep the darkness and its inhabitants at bay. She looked past the street lamps and watched the starts shimmer against the darkened sky. She walked off alongside the cobblestone street listening to the clop, clop, clop of her new boots on the sidewalk. Even though it was late there were still a few people walking about at night. A young couple walked along holding hands, gruff union members wandered from saloon to saloon, a few walked alone, and for a brief moment she thought she saw a little boy in a night dress skipping up an alleyway.
She heard the bells from a nearby clock tower ring out the hour and she counted each hit. “Nine. Ten. Eleven. I am running late.” She started to walk away with a little more purpose in her strides; she had somewhere to be. She waited a moment for a coach to pass and then moved quickly across the street. Her hurry and her new heels got the better of her and as she stepped up on the walk she misjudged the height and caught her toes. With a quick cry of surprise she fell forward and into the arms of a passing young man.
“I got you.”
She smiled up at him, “Thank you for catching me.” She allowed him to help her right herself. She leaned against him for a moment, “I got these fine new shoes and I’m just absolutely clumsy in them.”
“Are you all right Miss?”
“I’m fine, thank you for asking.” She placed her hand on his forearm and thought she could be a few minutes late. “I’m so embarrassed.”
“Don’t you be embarrassed Miss, some of those shoes are right impossible to walk in.” His smile it reached his blue eyes and curled his mouth just enough to show off his teeth. He was young too, maybe a hair past twenty. He detached himself slightly to reach down and pick up a new looking Stetson, that was quite out of place with his fine suit and tie. He dusted it off taking care to get it back into a good shape.
“My, what a fine looking hat.”
“Thank you miss, it was a gift from a marshal friend of mine.”
“A marshal,” she caught her breath and fanned herself with her hand, “not a Death Marshal? Are you with the Guild?”
“Yes miss. I am.”
“Are you a Death Marshal as well?”
“No. Nothing quite that exciting. I’m a doctor and a dentist, occasionally a veterinarian. I don’t even know how to use a gun.” he looked around them for a moment and then looked back to her, “I don’t mean to be forward miss, but are you by yourself?”
“Yes, I had some business at a shop up the road, and it took a bit longer than anticipated.”
“I’m afraid I can’t allow this. It’s just not safe for a young lady to be out at night by herself in this city.”
“I don’t have very far to go. Just a few blocks.”
“I would feel better if you allowed me to escort you.”
“I don’t even know your name.”
“I apologize, you are quite correct.” He reached up and removed his hat, “my name is Malcolm, and you are?”
She began to speak and suddenly jumped, pressing up against him, “what was that?” She looked off down the street, her eyes scanning the now empty darkness.
Malcolm followed her gaze, stepping forward to be in front of her just slightly. “I don’t see anything.”
“Maybe I should let you walk me.”
“Where to?”
“Mrs. Downey’s Orphanage, over on fifth street.”
“I know the way, I live near Mrs. Downey‘s. We should be there in two shakes.” He began walking with her, moving to place himself between her and the street. After a few blocks he began speaking again, “Do you live there?”
“No, I’m meeting my…someone.”
“I see.”
“Oh, nothing like that. It’s my, well, she wants me to call her mother, but I haven’t felt particularly maternal towards her in a while.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. My mothers Earthside back in Boston. I miss her terribly, but we write. I may go home for a visit next month for the holidays.”
“I’ve never been to Boston. Is it nice?”
“It’s amazing. I love it. Malifaux reminds me of it a bit. The streets and architecture are similar, none of the monsters though, and seafood. Amazing seafood, other than my family, I miss it the most.” He stared off into the night ahead for a long moment.
“It sounds wonderful. Maybe I’ll go someday.”
“You should come up to Boston. I mean go. I mean…I’m sorry, that sounded just…”
She placed her arm through his, “It’s okay, I know what you meant.”
Malcolm smiled at her and patted her hand where it rested in the crook of his elbow. They walked along like that for a few more minutes until she started to turn down an alley. Malcolm pulled up short and tugged her back towards him. “We should keep walking.”
“But the orphanage is right on the other side of this alley.”
“This time of night, those aren’t safe. If we head up two more blocks and cross over we’ll be back this way in no time.”
“That’ll take too long and I’m already late. I go this way all the time.”
“Maybe during the day, but right now there could be anything down that alley. I get a lot of people on my table that walk down alleys at night; it isn’t safe.”
“You’re being silly.” She tugged on his arm, slightly more forcefully than was necessary.
“No. We need to walk around.”
She let go of his hand and half stepped into the alley.
A new voice, gruff and dirty, hissed from the darkness, “You should have listened to the fine young man.” The loud click of a hammer being set on a gun echoed off the walls.
She turned too quickly to face the alley and stumbled on her heels. Malcolm moved forward, stopping her fall and stepping in front of her before she had completely gotten her self righted. “Stay behind me,” he whispered to her.
“That’s lovely. It’s nice to see a good solid lad. I took up a young couple just the other day and he pushed her into me and run off. Gives me hope to see a man put himself between me and his fine young lady.”
“What do you want?” Malcolm’s voice was steady and measured.
The voice let out a dust chocked cough. “Any script you got on you, maybe some jewelry.”
Malcolm reached into his pocket and pulled out a wad of bills. The shadowy figure moved forward enough to present a vague shadow, the glint of metal coming from his hand. Malcolm tossed the bills underhand and the shadow caught them. “That’s a fine watch you got there.”
Malcolm took a moment to undo his pocket watch and toss it into the alley as well. “And now ma’am, I’ll be having your purse.”
“I don’t have anything in it; it’s new.”
“Please ma’am. Every young girl keeps a little something in her purse.”
Malcolm whispered over his shoulder, “Don’t anger him.”
She opened the purse and began to reach her hand inside. “I’m telling you there’s nothing in here you want.”
The voice stepped fully into the light revealing a grubby unwashed moth eaten suit, mismatched shoes, and a greasy black bowler resting on a nest of oily black hair. “Give me that.” He snatched forward and grabbed at the purse his fingers closing on her hand. Malcolm moved forward quickly, and punched the man knocking him backwards into the alley. His hand still gripping hers he pulled her with him into the darkness. There was a sharp bang from the gun, and the muzzle flash illuminated the alley for a brief second.
Candy lunged forward and a flash of silver broke the shadows as she pulled the long silver scissors from her purse and stabbed into the voice’s stomach. He staggered backwards, and raised the gun to defend him. She moved forward and took the weapon from him tossing it down the alley.
She stood there for a long moment being sure to hold the hem of her dress up to keep any more blood from getting on it; she would not make that mistake again. The gunman slowly fell to his knees, the crimson trickle pooling around him his life slowly ebbed away. She smiled and cleaned her scissors on the man’s jacket.
Candy walked to the mouth of the alley and looked at Malcolm lying on the cobblestones. His blue eyes were devoid of the twinkle they had held just a few minutes before. He now stared blankly at the stars above them. The pool of blood spread from his chest where the bullet had struck him.
Candy stared at his face for a long time unsure what to do. Finally she said, “thank you,” without really knowing why.
end
The Character of Candy is a creation of Wyrd Miniatures.
I hope you enjoyed the story. If you're interested in more on Malifaux you can read my review of the second edition rules here. Or if you'd like to see more about the world and you can check out Wyrd Miniatures website here. Let me know what you thought of the story, by leaving a comment or heading over to facebook and mentioning it there. You can also find me on Twitter @stevemayne2.
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Table Top Day
April fifth and the second International Tabletop Day approaches like an appropriately chosen board game pun on endings. Last year to all accounts went well, certainly good enough to have a second go. For myself, I participated last year; I invited folks to my house and played some games and had a great day. I’m also getting ready for this year and I thought I should jot down some thoughts on exactly what I think Tabletop Day is.
I think I should give some history on the event before I get too far in. On April 12th back in 2012 Wil Wheaton gathered some of his friends together, went on to a brand new Youtube channel created by Felicia Day (Geek & Sundry), and created a show called Table Top. Actually, he created the show before that; the date given above is just when the first episode aired. The show was an unlikely success. I remember starting the first episode thinking it was going to be a train wreck, it was only a half hour long and I completely expected to shut it down no more than ten minutes in. When I finished the episode because of how enjoyable and engaging it was, I was as shocked as anyone.
The show went on to become a huge hit; the first episode is sitting at nearly 1.5 million views. With the shows success there was a decision made at some level I’m not aware of to dedicate an entire day to gathering with friends and gaming. Tabletop Day is about being social and having a good time with friends. To put it in their words…
“International TableTop Day is a celebration for all the fans of tabletop gaming. A single day where the whole world is brought together in a common purpose of spending time together and having fun.”
We could leave it right there, it perfectly defines the day and what it’s for. However, I think their description is wrong about one point. They say it’s for fans of tabletop gaming and to be fair it is however I think it’s bigger than that. While it’s certainly a day that fans of tabletop gaming whether board games, miniature games, or card games are going to have an immediate appreciation for. I think we need to expand this to people who don’t really know this applies to them.
To me, the reason Tabletop Day is important is that it more than any other holiday has only one reason for being; to get together with friends and family and be social. We have holidays year round that bring people together around a table and be with one another. However, every one of the other holidays has a built in reason for why it exists, be it religious, patriotic, or emotional; you have an expectation of what you need to do on those days. Whether its open presents, have a cookout, find colored eggs, or buy your significant other something romantic; you have a built in responsibility for every other holiday.
Tabletop Day has one requirement, get together with people and do something fun. If you think about that it’s kind of amazing. I think it’s also especially important in this day and age when people are so very busy. When was the last time most us had were able to just be with people we liked without forging a block of time. We always think we’ll have time later but then we never really do; that later never actually shows up.
Tabletop Day is later. It’s that point where we now have a day that we can all point to and say this is the day I’m going to spend time with my family and friends. This is later; this is when I’m going to make the time. Yes, it’s an arbitrary day, there’s no special significance with April 5th, at least none that I’m aware of, your mileage may vary. Why not April 5th, why can’t that be the day you sit down with your kids, your parents, your friends, your co-workers, or dorm mates and play poker, Candyland, Monopoly, Settlers of Catan, or Last Night on Earth. Do a puzzle, make a scrapbook, or build a model airplane. Just so long as you can sit at a table, have fun, and hold a conversation.
That’s why this day is important. That’s why it has to be around a table. As weird a statement as this is to make, you can’t be doing something active, because it’s fairly impossible to have a conversation during a game of hockey. I want people to have a good time anyway they want, I also feel people should go outside and be active, lord knows I need to do it more often, but it’s nearly impossible to have a conversation under those circumstances. To me the conversation is the important part of Tabletop Day.
People should have conversations. We need to talk more. Maybe I’m wrong, it’s possible, and won’t be the first or last time. I want to reconnect, I want to talk to people, and I want to have fun doing it. That’s why I think Tabletop Day is important, because when was the last time we really talked to each other.
This April 5th, get together with people you love, sit down, and pull out that dusty copy of Scrabble. Have a good day; a fun day. Just have a conversation with people you like. Hell, even if you have to play basketball so you can sit down afterwards for beer and wings to do it.
Let me know what you think. Are you planning on doing anything this TableTop Day? If it's passed, did you do anything? What did you play? Post below or head over to my Facebook page and leave a message there. You can also follow me on Twitter @stevemayne2. Also feel free to look my on Youtube.
I think I should give some history on the event before I get too far in. On April 12th back in 2012 Wil Wheaton gathered some of his friends together, went on to a brand new Youtube channel created by Felicia Day (Geek & Sundry), and created a show called Table Top. Actually, he created the show before that; the date given above is just when the first episode aired. The show was an unlikely success. I remember starting the first episode thinking it was going to be a train wreck, it was only a half hour long and I completely expected to shut it down no more than ten minutes in. When I finished the episode because of how enjoyable and engaging it was, I was as shocked as anyone.
The show went on to become a huge hit; the first episode is sitting at nearly 1.5 million views. With the shows success there was a decision made at some level I’m not aware of to dedicate an entire day to gathering with friends and gaming. Tabletop Day is about being social and having a good time with friends. To put it in their words…
“International TableTop Day is a celebration for all the fans of tabletop gaming. A single day where the whole world is brought together in a common purpose of spending time together and having fun.”
We could leave it right there, it perfectly defines the day and what it’s for. However, I think their description is wrong about one point. They say it’s for fans of tabletop gaming and to be fair it is however I think it’s bigger than that. While it’s certainly a day that fans of tabletop gaming whether board games, miniature games, or card games are going to have an immediate appreciation for. I think we need to expand this to people who don’t really know this applies to them.
To me, the reason Tabletop Day is important is that it more than any other holiday has only one reason for being; to get together with friends and family and be social. We have holidays year round that bring people together around a table and be with one another. However, every one of the other holidays has a built in reason for why it exists, be it religious, patriotic, or emotional; you have an expectation of what you need to do on those days. Whether its open presents, have a cookout, find colored eggs, or buy your significant other something romantic; you have a built in responsibility for every other holiday.
Tabletop Day has one requirement, get together with people and do something fun. If you think about that it’s kind of amazing. I think it’s also especially important in this day and age when people are so very busy. When was the last time most us had were able to just be with people we liked without forging a block of time. We always think we’ll have time later but then we never really do; that later never actually shows up.
Tabletop Day is later. It’s that point where we now have a day that we can all point to and say this is the day I’m going to spend time with my family and friends. This is later; this is when I’m going to make the time. Yes, it’s an arbitrary day, there’s no special significance with April 5th, at least none that I’m aware of, your mileage may vary. Why not April 5th, why can’t that be the day you sit down with your kids, your parents, your friends, your co-workers, or dorm mates and play poker, Candyland, Monopoly, Settlers of Catan, or Last Night on Earth. Do a puzzle, make a scrapbook, or build a model airplane. Just so long as you can sit at a table, have fun, and hold a conversation.
That’s why this day is important. That’s why it has to be around a table. As weird a statement as this is to make, you can’t be doing something active, because it’s fairly impossible to have a conversation during a game of hockey. I want people to have a good time anyway they want, I also feel people should go outside and be active, lord knows I need to do it more often, but it’s nearly impossible to have a conversation under those circumstances. To me the conversation is the important part of Tabletop Day.
People should have conversations. We need to talk more. Maybe I’m wrong, it’s possible, and won’t be the first or last time. I want to reconnect, I want to talk to people, and I want to have fun doing it. That’s why I think Tabletop Day is important, because when was the last time we really talked to each other.
This April 5th, get together with people you love, sit down, and pull out that dusty copy of Scrabble. Have a good day; a fun day. Just have a conversation with people you like. Hell, even if you have to play basketball so you can sit down afterwards for beer and wings to do it.
Let me know what you think. Are you planning on doing anything this TableTop Day? If it's passed, did you do anything? What did you play? Post below or head over to my Facebook page and leave a message there. You can also follow me on Twitter @stevemayne2. Also feel free to look my on Youtube.
Sunday, February 9, 2014
The Continuing Adventures of J P Nussbaum 21
This is the latest installment of the J.P. Nussbaum adventures, if you'd like to check them out from the beginning head here.
Jeeves has set us on a path to safety. The cold weather has restricted our movements too greatly, we’ve been unable to get to far from our previous location quickly and as a result it’s been too easy to track our movements. We learned this when we went to the dark net and saw all the information on us. The list of our locations and possible hiding places has been frighteningly accurate.
Because of all of this Jeeves arranged for us to travel some. We boarded a private jet with unmarked wings and have set down in a much warmer climate. He should be difficult for anyone to follow us since we’ve taken such a drastic jump.
I’m both excited and afraid, I’ve seen how much money they’ve begun to offer for our location and yet I still can’t seem to shake the joy of being outside the U.S. for the first time.
As always, whoever you are, I ask you a favor; please tell my family I love them. Tell them I’m sorry.
I just received this message; I was so excited to receive it I decide to post it right away.
To Stephen Mayne,
I have returned. I apologize for the lull in communication and would like to assure you that we are all fine. I can’t be certain of just how long you haven’t received anything from me. First, we were trapped in a jungle and I was dealing with a spotty signal, so I can’t be certain you have any of those messages. After that we were chased by an army of mad men through the jungle in response to a slight side trip we took. Then a few weeks ago my radio was shot out of my hands by some local freedom fighters who mistook us for some of the men holding this area under their thumb.
Christina was able to convince the freedom fighters that we were ok, apparently she knew one of their members from the three months she spent working with the Peace Corps. After a few days of negotiations we were recruited to the cause. It’s been a busy few days since then. We’ve liberated three villages and a diamond mine. We took back a small section of jungle and then as a last moment thrust destroyed a mercenary base that was being used to oppress the area.
While going through the bases computers we found some information on the group that’s been after us. While the computers were useful they had taken some excessive damage in the initial fire fight. We have a few more things to do here before we go. Until then, I hope to be in more regular contact.
Your friend
J.P. Nussbaum
Let me know what you think, I'm always interested in the opinions of the reader, good or bad. You can either leave a comment below or on facebook. You can also follow me on twitter.
Jeeves has set us on a path to safety. The cold weather has restricted our movements too greatly, we’ve been unable to get to far from our previous location quickly and as a result it’s been too easy to track our movements. We learned this when we went to the dark net and saw all the information on us. The list of our locations and possible hiding places has been frighteningly accurate.
Because of all of this Jeeves arranged for us to travel some. We boarded a private jet with unmarked wings and have set down in a much warmer climate. He should be difficult for anyone to follow us since we’ve taken such a drastic jump.
I’m both excited and afraid, I’ve seen how much money they’ve begun to offer for our location and yet I still can’t seem to shake the joy of being outside the U.S. for the first time.
As always, whoever you are, I ask you a favor; please tell my family I love them. Tell them I’m sorry.
I just received this message; I was so excited to receive it I decide to post it right away.
To Stephen Mayne,
I have returned. I apologize for the lull in communication and would like to assure you that we are all fine. I can’t be certain of just how long you haven’t received anything from me. First, we were trapped in a jungle and I was dealing with a spotty signal, so I can’t be certain you have any of those messages. After that we were chased by an army of mad men through the jungle in response to a slight side trip we took. Then a few weeks ago my radio was shot out of my hands by some local freedom fighters who mistook us for some of the men holding this area under their thumb.
Christina was able to convince the freedom fighters that we were ok, apparently she knew one of their members from the three months she spent working with the Peace Corps. After a few days of negotiations we were recruited to the cause. It’s been a busy few days since then. We’ve liberated three villages and a diamond mine. We took back a small section of jungle and then as a last moment thrust destroyed a mercenary base that was being used to oppress the area.
While going through the bases computers we found some information on the group that’s been after us. While the computers were useful they had taken some excessive damage in the initial fire fight. We have a few more things to do here before we go. Until then, I hope to be in more regular contact.
Your friend
J.P. Nussbaum
Let me know what you think, I'm always interested in the opinions of the reader, good or bad. You can either leave a comment below or on facebook. You can also follow me on twitter.
Sunday, January 19, 2014
The Continuing Adventures of J P Nussbaum 20
This is the latest installment of the J.P. Nussbaum adventures, if you'd like to check them out from the beginning head here.
I don’t know what to do now. We haven’t heard from JP or anyone else in his group; Jeeves feels that this may be the end. We’re no longer certain if what we’re doing matters. The only thing keeping us going is that we were attacked earlier this week. It was a sudden attack; a group of street punks opened up on us while we were walking to dinner. We weren’t even in a particularly large city.
It’s a small Midwest town and we had decided to walk to a nearby diner to grab something to eat. They were driving past in an old beater car when they started. The first few shots were poorly aimed; they tore concrete and ripped into the building behind us. We only had a few hand guns; nothing of any particularly impressive weight. Jeeves yelled at us to get to cover and we ran towards the nearest car. There hadn’t been anything parked on the street, but there was a parking lot maybe thirty feet in front of us. We ran. I think Keith fired as we moved to the relative safety of the cars.
Windows exploded around us. I heard Mike cry out as a round tore through his leg. Jeeves grabbed him and drug him the last few feet. At this point the gunmen, five in all, were pouring out of the car and firing at us as they did. One of them managed to shoot his own friend in the back as he climbed out of the car shooting without aiming. We started firing back; some of them took cover behind their car while some stood in the middle of the street.
In the end we managed to take one of them alive. He told us they had spotted us earlier that day when we stopped for gas. It turns out there’s a wanted post circulating on a thing called the dark net about us. There are some pretty good descriptions of each of us a fairly accurate layout of our travel plans. There are even a few pictures of us. I’m not sure what to make of this. On the upside, we now know how to get into the dark net and follow our own progress.
Hopefully, we’ll find out what happened to JP. Maybe he’s still out there and just can’t reach us. I hope he’s okay.
As always, whoever you are, I ask you a favor; please tell my family I love them. Tell them I’m sorry.
Let me know what you think, I'm always interested in the opinions of the reader, good or bad. Also, what do you think happened to JP, I already know but I'm curious what you think. You can either leave a comment below or on facebook. You can also follow me on twitter.
I don’t know what to do now. We haven’t heard from JP or anyone else in his group; Jeeves feels that this may be the end. We’re no longer certain if what we’re doing matters. The only thing keeping us going is that we were attacked earlier this week. It was a sudden attack; a group of street punks opened up on us while we were walking to dinner. We weren’t even in a particularly large city.
It’s a small Midwest town and we had decided to walk to a nearby diner to grab something to eat. They were driving past in an old beater car when they started. The first few shots were poorly aimed; they tore concrete and ripped into the building behind us. We only had a few hand guns; nothing of any particularly impressive weight. Jeeves yelled at us to get to cover and we ran towards the nearest car. There hadn’t been anything parked on the street, but there was a parking lot maybe thirty feet in front of us. We ran. I think Keith fired as we moved to the relative safety of the cars.
Windows exploded around us. I heard Mike cry out as a round tore through his leg. Jeeves grabbed him and drug him the last few feet. At this point the gunmen, five in all, were pouring out of the car and firing at us as they did. One of them managed to shoot his own friend in the back as he climbed out of the car shooting without aiming. We started firing back; some of them took cover behind their car while some stood in the middle of the street.
In the end we managed to take one of them alive. He told us they had spotted us earlier that day when we stopped for gas. It turns out there’s a wanted post circulating on a thing called the dark net about us. There are some pretty good descriptions of each of us a fairly accurate layout of our travel plans. There are even a few pictures of us. I’m not sure what to make of this. On the upside, we now know how to get into the dark net and follow our own progress.
Hopefully, we’ll find out what happened to JP. Maybe he’s still out there and just can’t reach us. I hope he’s okay.
As always, whoever you are, I ask you a favor; please tell my family I love them. Tell them I’m sorry.
Let me know what you think, I'm always interested in the opinions of the reader, good or bad. Also, what do you think happened to JP, I already know but I'm curious what you think. You can either leave a comment below or on facebook. You can also follow me on twitter.
Saturday, January 11, 2014
The Continuing Adventures of J P Nussbaum 19
This is the latest installment of the J.P. Nussbaum adventures, if you'd like to check them out from the beginning head here.
We’re back on the road again. With the massive snows moving on, we were able to get ourselves out of the city and head for safer places. We crossed state lines again though I’m no longer certain where we are. Being able to drive has raised everyone’s spirits and all the fighting has stopped. We even got to take a moment to rest and take a little silly time for ourselves. We stopped at a roadside museum and took a tour of the House of Iron, a cute little place featuring wrought iron sculpture.
Jeeves has arranged a meeting for the beginning of next week in hopes of helping to get us ahead of the people who are following us. I’m hoping this will end soon.
As always, whoever you are, I ask you a favor; please tell my family I love them. Tell them I’m sorry.
To Stephen Mayne,
I feel like a hunted beast. Destroying the camp has led to a hard search of the area. There are boats in the river, jeeps on the trails, and planes in the sky. We are harried everyday as we make our way to civilization. We’ve considered attacking some of the searchers but have decided against it because even that small action could give away our location. We’re even trying to keep our correspondence to a minimum in case they track our signal.
On the upside we have been able to locate a source of potential aid, provided we aren’t found, the place on the map still exists, and they’re willing to help. Hopefully, we can
(The message ends here.)
Let me know what you think, I'm always interested in the opinions of the reader, good or bad. You can either leave a comment below or on facebook. You can also follow me on twitter.
We’re back on the road again. With the massive snows moving on, we were able to get ourselves out of the city and head for safer places. We crossed state lines again though I’m no longer certain where we are. Being able to drive has raised everyone’s spirits and all the fighting has stopped. We even got to take a moment to rest and take a little silly time for ourselves. We stopped at a roadside museum and took a tour of the House of Iron, a cute little place featuring wrought iron sculpture.
Jeeves has arranged a meeting for the beginning of next week in hopes of helping to get us ahead of the people who are following us. I’m hoping this will end soon.
As always, whoever you are, I ask you a favor; please tell my family I love them. Tell them I’m sorry.
To Stephen Mayne,
I feel like a hunted beast. Destroying the camp has led to a hard search of the area. There are boats in the river, jeeps on the trails, and planes in the sky. We are harried everyday as we make our way to civilization. We’ve considered attacking some of the searchers but have decided against it because even that small action could give away our location. We’re even trying to keep our correspondence to a minimum in case they track our signal.
On the upside we have been able to locate a source of potential aid, provided we aren’t found, the place on the map still exists, and they’re willing to help. Hopefully, we can
(The message ends here.)
Let me know what you think, I'm always interested in the opinions of the reader, good or bad. You can either leave a comment below or on facebook. You can also follow me on twitter.
Friday, January 3, 2014
The Continuing Adventures of J P Nussbaum 18
This is the latest installment of the J.P. Nussbaum adventures, if you'd like to check them out from the beginning head here.
I’m not sure what it’s doing where you are, but it’s dumping about a hundred pounds of snow on us here. We’ve had to forgo moving every few days because of the weather. Of course this likely means whoever is following us in similarly stranded. At least, it’s a nice hotel this time.
The time on the road is becoming exhausting, and we’re all beginning to get a little stir crazy. Mike and Keith are beginning to argue quite a bit. Jeeves has tried to help and given us all something to do.
Mike had been using the family’s computer and information network to look into who’s been following us. Keith has been reaching out to family contacts to see if anyone knows anything about our pursuers or Doctor Cavallaro. We’re assuming that the two events are connected, since the odds of a coincidence are astronomical.
Mark and I went with Jeeves to get supplies and armaments. Mark has a friend from way back who has dabbled in the idea of being ready for anything. So when the group needs, as Mark put it, lawyers, guns, and money they call Bobby. We were able to outfit ourselves quite nicely and get back to the others before the snows set in.
Now we are trapped. If I never post this and someone finds it. Whoever you are, I ask you a favor; please tell my family I love them. Tell them I’m sorry.
To Stephen Mayne,
We are triumphant. We were able to raze the smugglers outpost and rearm ourselves for the next few days. More importantly we saved the children. Christina was amazing, she out paced the entire group as we charged through the fifty yards of clear ground to get into the encampment. Of course she was a second alternate on the Italian Olympic track team. Beth was able to deactivate the security system in a matter of seconds and get us all inside. And Jones, well Jones brought hell with him. It reminded me of the videos of your Fourth of July celebrations.
We quickly handled the dozen me guarding the camp, rescued the children and sent them home to their families. The parents returned shortly afterwards to help loot the camp for food, medicine, and some guns and supplies. We let them have most of the camps goods, taking only what we knew we would need.
Unfortunately, while scouring the base we found proof that our pilot had passed through here. While this explains how he was able to bail out of the plane and find escape, it means that most likely this base belongs to Schuler or his organization. Under that assumption we left behind anything technological, since it would all have GPS hardwired in and we weren’t sure how to remove it.
On the up side we found a battery for our sat phone that gives it a good crisp signal. We should be able to continue sending messages, though we will conserve the power in it for a while since we don’t know how long we’ll be out here and who will be attempting to triangulate our location.
We also have a map of the area and few old school pieces of navigation. We should be able to plot a more able course now.
Your friend
J.P. Nussbaum
Let me know what you think, I'm always interested in the opinions of the reader, good or bad. You can either leave a comment below or on facebook. You can also follow me on twitter.
I’m not sure what it’s doing where you are, but it’s dumping about a hundred pounds of snow on us here. We’ve had to forgo moving every few days because of the weather. Of course this likely means whoever is following us in similarly stranded. At least, it’s a nice hotel this time.
The time on the road is becoming exhausting, and we’re all beginning to get a little stir crazy. Mike and Keith are beginning to argue quite a bit. Jeeves has tried to help and given us all something to do.
Mike had been using the family’s computer and information network to look into who’s been following us. Keith has been reaching out to family contacts to see if anyone knows anything about our pursuers or Doctor Cavallaro. We’re assuming that the two events are connected, since the odds of a coincidence are astronomical.
Mark and I went with Jeeves to get supplies and armaments. Mark has a friend from way back who has dabbled in the idea of being ready for anything. So when the group needs, as Mark put it, lawyers, guns, and money they call Bobby. We were able to outfit ourselves quite nicely and get back to the others before the snows set in.
Now we are trapped. If I never post this and someone finds it. Whoever you are, I ask you a favor; please tell my family I love them. Tell them I’m sorry.
To Stephen Mayne,
We are triumphant. We were able to raze the smugglers outpost and rearm ourselves for the next few days. More importantly we saved the children. Christina was amazing, she out paced the entire group as we charged through the fifty yards of clear ground to get into the encampment. Of course she was a second alternate on the Italian Olympic track team. Beth was able to deactivate the security system in a matter of seconds and get us all inside. And Jones, well Jones brought hell with him. It reminded me of the videos of your Fourth of July celebrations.
We quickly handled the dozen me guarding the camp, rescued the children and sent them home to their families. The parents returned shortly afterwards to help loot the camp for food, medicine, and some guns and supplies. We let them have most of the camps goods, taking only what we knew we would need.
Unfortunately, while scouring the base we found proof that our pilot had passed through here. While this explains how he was able to bail out of the plane and find escape, it means that most likely this base belongs to Schuler or his organization. Under that assumption we left behind anything technological, since it would all have GPS hardwired in and we weren’t sure how to remove it.
On the up side we found a battery for our sat phone that gives it a good crisp signal. We should be able to continue sending messages, though we will conserve the power in it for a while since we don’t know how long we’ll be out here and who will be attempting to triangulate our location.
We also have a map of the area and few old school pieces of navigation. We should be able to plot a more able course now.
Your friend
J.P. Nussbaum
Let me know what you think, I'm always interested in the opinions of the reader, good or bad. You can either leave a comment below or on facebook. You can also follow me on twitter.
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