The Professional Gamer - July 12, 2016

Hi readers!  I hope all of our American followers had a great Independence Day!  I sure did, even got a personal record for the 4 km race that I've been doing for several years.

Later in the week, I finished watching the first season of Gravity Falls.  I won't really post any spoilers, since I'm sure there are lots of people watching for the first time.  If you are watching for the first time, remember: trust no one!  The first season has been so much fun, and I've already started into the second season.  I've got a feeling I'll be finishing the series really soon.

I've made a lot of progress through The Lord of the Rings this week as well.  Gandalf has fallen in Khazad-dum and the Fellowship has journeyed into Lothlorien.  I think I've got less than a week to move on to the next volume.

In other news, I am a bike owner again.  Its been a long time since I had a bicycle and I'm excited to start using it for transport on the weekends.  Now, I need to get some accessories so that I can be safe and carry groceries and such as well.

Lastly, Pokemon Go has been released in Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and the U.S. so far.  I feel like I've had not a lot of time to play, but have still managed to rack up 6 km of walking and have reached level 6.  It's been fun to explore the real world, sometimes with friends, in search of magical creatures.  The server issues have been frustrating, but I'm sure that will all get solved soon.  In summary, its a lot more fun than Ingress, the previous game released by Niantec; and I recommend that you try it out if you think you would like an excuse to explore your neighborhood on foot and get to know some of the people who live near you.

That's all I have for this week.  I'll update you all later on how the Pokemon hunting goes.  Have a great week, and game on!

The Professional Gamer - June 27, 2016

Hello readers!  I hope you all have enjoyed our coverage of Denver Comic Con this year.  We all had a great time.  Everything was comics and nothing hurt.  I've started reading and reviewing the comics that I bought, so keep your eyes on this space for more articles.

On top of that, I'm getting into my semi-regular reading of Lord of the Rings.  I don't really have a lot to say about it.  For whatever reason, I derive so much comfort from reading Tolkien's masterwork.  No matter what is going on in my life, it is a grounding to my youth.  

That's all that I really have for this week.  I'm taking a bit of an easier time this week, and recovering from Comic Con.  But, I'm planning to be back next week with some more discussions.  Have a great week and game on!

The Professional Gamer - November 23, 2015

I must report that I may have fallen off the the wagon this week.  You see, I started reading The Lord of the Rings again.  When I was middle school and high school, reading through LotR was an annual ritual for me.  As I moved onto college and, later, a career.  I found it harder to keep up with my regular habit.  I think the last time I actually read through the books was during graduate school.  I still really love Tolkien's prose, and the slow unfolding of the plot.

At other times, I read a few more pages of The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage.  As I've written before, this is a really fun comic, with a fun blend of slapstick humor and discussion of the historic context via footnotes.

That's all that I have going on this week.  I'll see you all again next week.  Game on!