Why I Blog

First off, I am really not sure why I blog. So feel free to stop reading at this point. However, lack of content has never held back before and it shall not do so now.

I mainly blog for the social aspect of it. My initial connection with our Monday Night Gaming Group came to me via blogging; in the person of +Tim Shorts (Gothridge Manor). Yet, despite the social focus, I am content with blogging to a small audience (this usually includes my wife, one or more of our cats, and my Mom...she is so proud to see where my two graduate degrees have led me).

I don't have products to sell, a soapbox from which to preach, nor an axe to grind. For me, it is mostly about  the joy of gaming, the social connections, the laughing with friends while at the gametable, the creativity, and the stress relief. Blogging is merely an extension of those things.

More recently, I have found it useful to use my blog to post campaign information as I GM. Our Monday Night Gaming Group connects via Skype and some sort of virtual gametable (either Fantasy Grounds II or Roll20). It can be difficult to keep track of campaign information, so the blog comes in handy as I can send them links during gaming sessions rather than files.

This is my second go around with RPG blogging. I don't know that this second attempt is a whole lot different than the first, except that I am taking it less seriously. At heart, I am a casual gamer. I don't lose sleep over D&D Next, ascending versus descending armor classes, Kickstarters, a cinematic versus realistic approach to GURPS, or whose posted what on the various RPG boards. I just like to roll dice on occasion, laugh with friends, and blog about it.

Bummer: No Trip To NYC

My wife and I cancelled our trip to New York City this weekend because of the weather. Fortunately, we were able to get refunds and vouchers for trains, hotels, etc. We'll use those soon, as we try to get to NYC once every three months or so. We are bummed that we will not be seeing (and hearing) Ron Carter at the Blue Note tonight. And, our list of restaurants to try grows ever longer with no hope this weekend of reducing the backlog (many of the recommendations come from Serious Eats: New York).

To console myself, I am going to order a few gaming items this weekend. My warped rationalization is that I would have blown a significant amount of money on history books at Strand or another used bookstore in NYC. When it comes down to it, I am saving money, right?