Month: October 2024

Thoughts on Those Beyond the Wall

A while back – August 2020, in fact – I shared my review of The Space Between Worlds. Near the end of 2023, I was delighted to receive the sequel, Those Beyond the Wall, to review. Following that delightful reading opportunity, when I began assembling a proposed list of guests for next year’s Capricon, Micaiah’s name was on the list. She will be attending, so now’s a great time to pick up both books and read them before meeting her. This review was originally published in the March 1, 2024 issue of Booklist.

In Micaiah Johnson’s Those Beyond the Wall, the thrilling sequel to Space Between Worlds, readers explore Ashtown – the city beyond Wiley City’s atmospheric protection – through the eyes of Mr. Scales, sister to the Emperor, as traversers arrive from a parallel universe, killing this world’s version of them upon arrival. The leaders of Ashtown scramble for some manner of defense against the interdimensional arrivals, pulling old enemies scientist Adam Bosch and traverser Cara into their efforts, and cementing a sanctuary agreement within the city for their people in exchange for their solution. As they prepare for the city’s anticipated betrayal, Scales confronts the differences between Ashtown and Wiley City’s justice systems, channeling righteous rage against the city’s discriminatory enforcement, leveraging it to protect everybody. The systemic changes Scales desires will require personal sacrifices as she rushes to protect Ashtown’s people. Johnson’s riveting dystopian story carries thinly veiled messages stemming from the protests that swept the United States during summer 2020, the gritty setting reminding readers that this injustice can – and does – happen in reality. Those Beyond the Wall will appeal to fans of classic science fiction that portrays parallels to the current social issues.

Dorkstock through an AI lens

At a work-related conference recently, I heard about Google Notebook, which is an experimental AI that can parse information from your uploads. I decided to upload my past blog posts about Dorkstock as an experiment. I uploaded PDFs of six blog posts – 2017 (our second year in Madison), 2 from 2018 (before and after), 2019, 2021, and 2023. Please note that I experimented with Google Notebook because it’s only using my uploaded content, not stealing it from somewhere online. After feeding the blog posts in, I asked “What is Dorkstock?” I’ll note corrections inline.

Dorkstock is a mini-gaming convention held within a larger convention. One person described it as a “tiny little division of Gamehole Con.”

Origin
Dorkstock is a labor of love started by fans of John Kovalic’s work. Kovalic is the creator of the comic “Dork Tower.” [I don’t believe I’ve ever referred to John by just his last name; I either call him John or John Kovalic.]
● Fans wanted to create a convention related to his work and that of other artists published under “Storm Press.” [Missing the word “Dork”.]
● They decided to hold a mini-convention within a larger convention that John Kovalic was already attending.

Games
A variety of games are played at Dorkstock, with both scheduled and pick-up games.
● Some of the games are related to the “Dork Tower” comic, such as “Igor Bars.” [Bwahahaha… “Igor Bars” is referred to as a game!]
● There are also life-sized games, like “Warhamster Rally” and “Escape from Dork Tower.”
● Dorkstock has featured special guests like Steve Jackson and Phil Reed, who are known for games like “Munchkin.”
● Attendees enjoy playing “Munchkin” at Dorkstock, even running Munchkin Block Party events.

Location and Growth
Dorkstock has been hosted at Gamehole Con in Madison, Wisconsin for several years.
● It has grown from a one-day event to a four-day convention.
● There is a “Dorkstock coloring table” at the convention.

Dorkstock has also expanded beyond Madison, Wisconsin.
● There were at least two “Dorkstock UKs” and a “Dorkstock West.”

Personal Impact
For one attendee [me!], attending DragonCon and waiting in a crowded booth led them to the comic “Dork Tower”, which led them to John Kovalic and eventually, to their involvement in Dorkstock.

It’s not a terrible summary of Dorkstock. The follow-up question (prompt provided) of describing an unique aspect of Dorkstock focused on our life-sized games. Speaking of which, this weekend’s Dorkstock features the debut of Greed Quest Live, along with the return of other life-sized games. If you’re near Madison, stop in and see us – most of Dorkstock’s games are in a room upstairs, while the life-sized games are in the dealer’s hall.

Thoughts on An Act of God

Irreverent. Heretical. Fabulous.

Those are the first words that come to mind after seeing An Act of God at the Copley Theatre in Aurora, the latest show in their Bold series. The basic premise is that God is delivering a message directly to us, rewriting the Ten Commandments to clarify and modernize them, with the assistance of archangels Michael and Gabriel. That’s the entire cast, by the way, just those three people. God does most of the talking.

A three-person play is always going to be challenging, even with a short run time of 90 minutes. I suspect a three-person comedy where half the audience isn’t laughing is doubly so for the actors. Early on in the performance, I noticed that there were loud pockets of laughter in some parts of the small theatre (ourselves included) and other pockets of stone-faced theatregoers. At the end of the show, the artists received half a standing ovation, and I’m not sure I’ve ever seen that before. I suspect many of the sitting half would have walked out had there been an intermission.

Live performances in particular are supposed to make you think, so hopefully those people who weren’t laughing were at least given an interesting line of thought to pursue. As to whether you should see it, I suppose that depends on how literally you interpret the Bible and whether you’re comfortable looking at it from a different perspective. Obviously, I quite enjoyed it.

A stroll down memory lane

Cover of spiralbound journal titled "Mom Share Your Life with Me: A Daily Journal of Childhood Memories"

‘Well, that’s a cute idea,’ I thought, when I spotted journals for childhood memories labelled for parents and grandparents. It’s not the first time I’ve bought something like this; I gave my father something along these lines a couple years before he passed away. I don’t believe he used it, so it’s my mother’s to fill in now. This is, however, the first time I considered buying one for myself as we were picking up two Grandma ones (same questions!) to share.

A page of the Childhood Memories journal with 4 questions (in 3 sections): What were your Halloween traditions as a child? What were your Halloween traditions when you were too old to trick or treat? Do you have one especially memorable Halloween to tell about? What was your best costume ever?

Since I bought it in September, it made sense to start at that date, rather than filling in from the beginning. Oops, I cropped the dates out when I took the photo… rest assured, the questions about Halloween are around that date, not back in January. I’ve taken to reading a question ahead, then setting the journal down to think about it for a while before answering. The questions for September are largely about school, all the way from elementary to high school, and I’ve found myself thinking about things that while not forgotten, are rarely reflected on in my current life. Oddly, it has a bit of a calming effect in what has been a chaotic year of home improvement, convention planning (huh… apparently I haven’t written about co-chairing next year’s Capricon yet), and changes at work.

Whether you find a pre-printed book, one of those online options that provide a prompt every day, or just a blank journal, consider writing down your memories to share with your family. Our lives have changed so much with the advent of household technology that our reflections on the past will be a window into how life has changed.