Blog

I spent a large portion of my youth playing outside. Whether it was hide-and-seek in the neighborhood, running through the sprinkler in the backyard, or riding my bicycle around town, I enjoyed just about any activity that involved being outdoors. So it should come as no surprise that I liked playing softball too.
However, softball differed from my usual activities because it required participating in an actual organization and becoming part of an official team. I started playing youth softball in […]

Continue Reading about Softball Summers and Left Field Lessons Published on:
July 26, 2011

I’m a Phillip Seymour Hoffman fan, which led me to his performance in Adam Elliot’s stop-motion film Mary and Max, which in turn caused me to think about how video games incorporate this marvelous animation technique. Typically, stop-motion involves a designer moving an inanimate object in small increments and then photographing each separate frame. When the creator plays the series of photographs in a continuous sequence, this creates the illusion of movement. Albert E. Smith and J. Stuart Black first […]

Continue Reading about Three Degrees of Stop-Motion in Video Games Published on:
July 22, 2011

Jennifer Giambrone’s blog Nostalgia: It’s Good For You! told us about the importance of preserving memories. Our good memories remind us that we have value, that we are happy (or, at least, can be), and that life does in fact have meaning. In Once Upon a Time, I tried to convey much the same thing—that the time we spend playing as children can be crucial to our later ability to manage aspects of our adulthood successfully. A core of happiness […]

Continue Reading about Play and the Core of Happiness Published on:
July 19, 2011

The save feature is something a lot of gamers take for granted these days. Not only can a player save directly to a home console or computer hard drive, the number of opportunities we’re given to save prove higher than ever. This makes death and dying in games a lot less stressful. A player might lose some time and experience, but going back to the last save point is an option in most games. What I find interesting is how […]

Continue Reading about Saving in Video Games Published on:
July 14, 2011

Summertime carries memories for all of us. Recently, a Consumer Reports article about sunscreens prompted me to think about the aromas that mean summer for me. Growing up long before the acronym SPF had any significance, I remember when Sea & Ski and Hawaiian Tropic marketed themselves as “suntan lotion,” a product that had more in common with basting oils than medical defense against skin damage. Still, prior to a day at the beach, we slathered ourselves with Coppertone, and […]

Continue Reading about The Scents of Summer Published on:
July 12, 2011

During May, when the northeast still struggles to release itself from winter’s icy grasp, I can’t help but turn my thoughts to the approaching summer months. Right around Memorial Day, bass season opens on Lake Ontario. Growing up, this annual event served as the harbinger of summer vacation. My grandfather owned a fishing camp in the Thousand Islands on Lake Ontario, more specifically at Mud Bay, aptly named for the murky, opaque water that fills it. Every summer, my family—including […]

Continue Reading about Fun, Family, and Fish: Summertime Memories Published on:
July 5, 2011

As anticipation builds for the royal newlyweds’ first official North American tour, I’m reminded yet again of how beautiful Kate Middleton (er, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge) looked. With billions of eyes on her as she towed a nearly nine-foot train across Westminster Abbey, she embodied poise and grace, winning many admirers at home and overseas. Such was the reception of a gowned and bejeweled Frenchwoman introduced to the United States 125 years ago, “a mighty woman with a torch,” as […]

Continue Reading about Saluting the Statue of Liberty Published on:
June 28, 2011

The signs are everywhere: YARD SALE, GARAGE SALE, ESTATE SALE, MOVING SALE. Like the sirens of Greek mythology, their sweet song proves irresistible. My sister and I spend many a weekend chasing down sales—a favorite leisure activity. I don’t consider myself a collector but a treasure hunter caught by the whimsical item that seizes my attention, making an almost instantaneous connection for reasons both known and unknown. I enjoy the hunt and am equally pleased to find something for my […]

Continue Reading about Strong Connections Published on:
June 21, 2011

The Entertainment Software Association just released their newest data on the current state of video game play in the United States. The document reports that sales of video game software and hardware topped $25 billion last year, the average age of a gamer is 37, and 29% of gamers are over the age of 50. The report also notes that 72% of American households play video games.
Given the popularity of video games and my job title, I’m not surprised when […]

Continue Reading about Everyone’s a Gamer Published on:
June 15, 2011