Ben Johnson @GameDesignerBen@xoxo.zone

It is useful, yet mildly embarrassing that I can gauge whether I'm doing a good job processing depression by trying to sing along to "Home" by Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zeroes.

“Scythes” feels like 2 pounds of syllables stuffed in a 1-syllable bag.

Alaska’s “I Voted” stickers are really pretty and feature Native Alaskan languages.

I got my flu shot.

The text of the proclamation of the first Columbus Day makes it clear that the intent was to celebrate the contributions of immigrants to the United States, and to assert their right to be part of America. It’s a shame they didn’t name it after a better person. ‪https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/cgi-bin/colorado?a=d&d=CTR19050914.2.62#‬

As we move toward 2020, there are going to be a lot of conversations about an agenda of “back to normal” or pushing for better, but the partisanization of SCOTUS can’t just be undone. Executive orders can be reversed, but time and damage cannot. We must move forward.

@GameDesignerBen
4) Trump’s whole message is that his policies are broadly popular, and if you believe that it creates an air of inevitability which isn’t great for motivating turnout.

Nobody knows what’s going to happen, but the rush of victory is followed by a sense of complacency. The important question is whether you are motivated to vote, and if you are, then what about your neighbors?

I think the whole “Kavanaugh has energized the GOP to vote” is an unsupported narrative.
1) the election is a month away, and that’s a long time in politics.
2) There weren’t a lot of polls in September, so some amount of poll movement towards the GOP would be expected as the election nears and conservative independents come home and polling picks up again.
3) The folks making these claims are Republicans, with an incentive to believe this regardless.

The opening of GAMES ABOUT PROTEST at Babycastles was great! Lots of people engaging with the games, talking about what they do, and hanging out long after the event had technically “ended”

Lillian Schwartz selfie at The Whitney.

My exhibition GAMES ABOUT PROTEST opens at Babycastles Gallery this Thursday at 7PM! Tabletop, digital and roleplaying games developed over the last hundred years that all explore political protest, direct action and riots through their mechanics. Brought together for the first time! See you there. Tell a comrade.

Okay, here’s my pitch: it’s The Purge meets War of the Worlds. http://bit.ly/2MQakao

All I know is every Halloween party this year better be serving punch out of a black sarcophagus.

Well dang if the Adventure Time finale didn’t make me cry.

SF Zine Fest!

‪I feel like I’ve become progressively more self-conscious about writing since finishing college. There are times when I miss the version of myself who wrote trite urban fantasy and slam poetry just because it was fun to do that.‬

Double Fine has an open call for game submissions for Day of the Devs coming up in November. https://t.co/D7cE51pKhW

Chaser: there is a 12,000+ page wikipedia edit-war over the veracity of this fact. https://twitter.com/alt_kia/status/1032818829800353792

Shot: Alberta, Canada might be the only place on Earth outside of the poles not infested with rats. https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/the-stirring-story-of-how-alberta-became-the-first-place-in-the-world-to-banish-the-rat

Somebody shot up a Madden tournament at a gameroom in a pizza place in Jacksonville, FL.
https://www.news4jax.com/news/shooting-at-jacksonville-landing-leaves