"That skeleton hits HARD!!"

When we last left our brave party of adventurers, they were preparing to leave the basement of the monastery in order to rest and recover from their wounds. They decided, however, to make one last turn before heading out and head down a path they hadn't traveled down yet.At the bottom of a small flight of stairs was a small room. On the wall of the room was a large bas-relief carved into the stone wall. The sculpture was of a large bone creature....

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Looking Back: Friends Season Three

I raved about season two of Friends. Most of the times I've started the series over, I've skipped season one and gone straight into the second season. As good as season two is when compared to the first season, season three is even bette...

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The Crown of Command - My thoughts on Talisman

A month ago, I made the trek to The Guardtower, my favorite store in the world, and used our Christmas money to buy a new board game. Holly and I love to play board games. Our favorites are Agricola, Lords of Waterdeep and Dominion, but we also own Powergrid, Settlers of Catan, 7 Wonders and Carcassonne. My friend Nate is my board game sensei and my primary source of information. He had mentioned that he got a couple of the expansions for Talisman...

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The Liberators of Thornkeep - Session Recap

First off, a little background. I moonlight as a freelance game designer. I’ve had five supplements published by Raging Swan Press. Creighton, the publisher over at RSP wrote an advice column for freelance writers and suggested that those who write should keep a blog. Well, that’s good news for me because I already keep a blog! He offered some suggestions that should be on the blog. In light of that, I’ll be adding session recaps from my Thursday night game. I am the GM for a group of friends, we’re using the Pathfinder Campaign Setting, specifically,...

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Booger-Eaters, Soap Operas, Beards and YES!! chants

"This is literally just a male version of a soap opera," my wife astutely noted the other day as I was watching WWE. She's right, of course, WWE isn't really about the wrestling, anymore. In fact, they don't even consider themselves to be a wrestling company. They famously changed their name a few years ago from World Wrestling Entertainment to WWE. The men and women who compete in the ring aren't known as wrestlers, they're known as WWE Superstars and Diva...

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Monday Nitro and the Worst Night of our Lives

On January 18, 1999, my best friend, Marc, and I, were preparing to enjoy the night at WCW's Monday Nitro, which was in Columbus. We were both big wrestling fans, and we were super excited to go to the show that night, where we had floor seats. We had spent the weekend at a church retreat and gotten back that day. We were at my house (which was in the ghetto), preparing for the show. How do three teenage boys (our friend Jeremiah was also coming...

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Looking Back: Friends Season Two

Friends was wildly popular from the word "Go." Millions and millions of people tuned in to watch Monica, Rachel, Phoebe, Chandler, Joey and Ross each week. The first season was unquestionably a success, but I've always maintained that Friends hit its stride in season ...

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The Second City

When Holly and I got married, we went to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg for our honeymoon. We returned the next year when  Holly was pregnant with Xavier. We haven't taken a vacation since. We spent a day in Washington DC about a year ago, but that was a part of an interview weekend in Baltimore, so I don't count it as a vacation. It was one of my goals before my birthday to take Holly to a big city on a vacation. We found the time and the finances to go to Chicago the week of Thanksgiving.I had gone to Chicago for a mission trip with my students...

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Looking Back: Friends Season One

On September 22, 1994, six people jumped into the collective hearts of TV-watching Americans. Ross, Rachel, Monica, Chandler, Joey and Phoebe are six of my favorite television characters of all tim...

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My 2014 Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot

This year's new Hall of Famers will be announced the day after tomorrow. In honor of that, I made up my own Hall of Fame ballot. I'm not a member of the Baseball Writers Association of America, so my vote carries no weight, whatsoever. It's just my opinion on who should be in the Hall of Fam...

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2013: A Review

2013 was a big year for me and my family. I started the year living with my in-laws and working as a part time cook making nearly minimum wage at a restaurant. I ended the year working full-time as a pastor again, living on a farm! I've taken some time and thought about ten of my favorite experiences/memories of the year. Here they are, in no particular orde...

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