Day: February 21, 2008

What The HELL.

The Secret Service ordered the Security details at Barack Obama’s rally in Dallas to stop screening people for weapons.

Apparently, this was supposedly in order to speed up the long lines outside and fill the arena’s vacant seats before Obama came on.

Does anybody else think this was an INCREDIBLY BAD idea? What the hell was the Secret Service thinking?

Braggin’ on the kid again —

The Minion has won a scholarship essay contest run by The Bill of Rights Institute.

We’re not sure where she placed — either honorable mention ($500), third place ($1250), second place ($2500) or first place ($5000). We’ll find out at the awards ceremony in Washington in April.

In addition to the cash, she (and one parent, which will be me) gets flown to DC on April 3rd, put up at the Mayflower hotel, all transportation and meals paid. Thursday night is a VIP dinner, with Laura Bush, and various political figures. On Friday the 4th the kids get taken on VIP tours of various Washington sites (while the parents are left to their own devices with a stipend for meals). The event wraps up on Saturday the 5th with the awards breakfast. We’ll then be visiting with my aunt who lives in the area, and heading back on Sunday.

Proud doesn’t cover it.

An entry more for my own future reference, but which might be of interest to some of you…. A list of the projects currently occupying my time.

RPG stuff
* Development on Tales of New Crobuzon
* Development on the Odyssey system, specifically for Thrilling Tales, 2nd Edition.
* Writing for Gaslight Guardians, our planned Victorian-era superhero release for M&M.
* Editing and Graphic Design for forthcoming Imperial Age projects.
* Initial brainstorming on possible FATE-based super-spy RPG (working title: either “The Man from F.A.T.E.” or “Agents of F.A.T.E.”)
* Hemming and Hawing over whether my original Heroes of the New Wave 80s neo-pulp concept would work better as a stand-alone FATE-based game, or rather as a plug-in supplement for Spirit of the Century.

Writing (non-day-job-related)
* The Lion’s Share –novel, an espionage thriller. 21st-century Ian Fleming stuff.
* Far West — novel, based on the the rpg concept that I’ve back-burnered.
* Notes taken on possible “Heroes of the New Wave” short fiction….although not sure if there’s a market where they could be sent.