I know, I know, the original quote is “There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch.” I’m enough of a Heinlein buff to remember that. But I’m also aware of the fact that posting stuff on here requires an investment of time, and for most people, time is money. Just like money buys information, information is power, power is corrupting, and corruption (according to some) is just a matter of time. See what I did there? It’s circular.

Anyway.

More than once I have been told “You should get paid to do this.” It’s a sentiment I really appreciate, and Polymancer Studios will indeed be paying me, but not for my Netflix posts. I’ll be following up with them after I wrap up this little update, which includes an expansion of my site.

That little link you might have overlooked? Look again. IT CAME FROM NETFLIX! now has its own page.

I have a little bio page up as well, but that’s beside the point. One of the things that brings people here and keeps them interested definitely deserves to be featured on its own apart from my daily dribbling about writing, gaming, kittens and generally being a dull, uninteresting nerd. It includes a list of ICFN! posts, how I got started doing them and how readers like you can contribute to keep it going even longer.

I have no idea how this is going to turn out. My inbox for suggestions/donations might just sit around collecting dust and cobwebs or I might get a flood of requests for movies I’d normally have zero interest in watching. I guess we’ll just have to see once I get all of this posted.

Like any entertainer worth their salt, I’m doing my best to be aware of what my audience wants. Maybe someone out there wants me reviewing more comedies and less sci-fi. Perhaps there’s a gem of an old fantasy movie that so far has gone unnoticed and unreviewed. It’s likely that a person reading this is thinking of a favorite film that they believe will become a favorite of mine as well.

I’ll make you no promises save this: I’m willing to watch just about anything. I can’t promise I’ll like it, and if I don’t I’ll make damn sure you know it. I try to act like something resembling a professional in this space, which is why I do my utmost to post every day. I know I’ll get some stick for doing that, since in reality I’m about as Peter Pan as someone can get without donning pointy shoes and a fetching green hat, but dammit, I can pretend.

So this thing happened to me over the weekend. Here are some of the highlights.

• Yes, that’s me with Yahtzee of Zero Punctuation and Paul & Graham of Unskippable over at The Escapist. If you think that Yahtzee is unapproachable or caustic because of his yellow-background minimalist Internet persona, you’re a moron. Paul & Graham are very cool guys who appreciated clever wordplay. I didn’t spend nearly enough time with them for my taste, but I also was trying not to be a pest.
• I also got the chance to meet the wonderful Susan Arendt and Russ Pitts who run a good deal of the show over at the Escapist. Susan, like the wonderful Amanda D’adesky, herds cats like a badass and deserves a very long break after this hectic weekend. On advice from Russ, I will try to be about 25% less clever than I usually am. It’s never good to be more clever than your editor. Also, they love kittens.
• I ran demos of D&D 4th edition for Machine Age Productions and they went well. As the weekend wore on I stripped out more and more of the ancillary stuff I had added. The Saw-inspired Flash intro was cool and all, but it was a convention full of very loud noises and even louder off-key rhythm-deficient screeching Rock Band singers, so the effect was sort of lost. Still, folks seemed to have fun. That or they were just amused by my spastic flailing about as I described the damage they did to the zombies they fought.
• Speaking of Machine Age, Machine Zeit is a fantastically atmospheric and very free-form game that you will enjoy if you like science fiction, horror, mystery or just plain having a good time.
• Finally met Chuck Wendig in person, speaking of cleverness.
• Met all sorts of people and I’d love to name them all but I’m running out of time before returning to the rather mundane day job I’m currently holding.

Things will continue to change around here. See that new logo? I did that. I started this weekend with 23 home-made business cards bearing that logo and info to bring people here. I ended with 2.

If that’s not a success, I don’t know what is.

I mentioned in my last LiveJournal entry that with everything going on, despite working weekends to try and make ends meet, I don’t feel stagnant and things are moving forward. GameX begins tomorrow and I’m very much looking forward to it.

I’m still not settled on the format for the video supplements for my Netflix entries. I originally was thinking of going with an entirely animated format, and then I stumbled upon the delightful Nixie Pixel who shows that the use of a webcam doesn’t have to look pixelated, static or amateur. I think there might be some experimentation in my future, and guest spots from the cats.

I’ve dubbed my RPG project “the Jovian Frontier” and I had great advice laid on me by David Hill: have the system support the feel of the game. The new World of Darkness has a straight-forward system that speeds people through the encounters, as the focus is more on the story than the combat. Rifts on the other hand has a combat system that is cumbersome in its note-keeping and damage tracking as it is tedious. The Jovian stories were meant to be somewhat realistic, exciting and free of techno-babble and the soft science of Star Trek Voyager. This to me means the game should also be realistic, exciting and free of long searches through rulebooks. I’m still narrowing down the overall concept, and in another bit of advice from David, I need to compose a single sentence that describes what the game is, who the characters are and why the game is awesome and folks will want to play it.

On top of that, I’m writing when I can, enjoying the storytelling in Fallout 3, playing D&D and waiting for the next book signing for Adventure on a Dare or the appearance of Blood from the Underground 2 on Lulu.

I will try to sort out a Netflix entry tonight and make reports from GameX, provided they have wi-fi.

According to the BBC, IE6 has become the Jason Vorhees of the Internet.

Why Jason Vorhees, you ask?

It terrifies you if you see it, it will take a machete to most websites and the occasional running process on your PC, and it WON’T JUST F—ING DIE.

So we here at IQnection can expect calls regarding layout, navigation and cart problems until at least 2014. And by “we” I mean “me” because I’m fielding the bulk of the maintenance calls. Hoo-bloody-ray.

At least there’s job security, right?

Speaking of the job and Jason, the workload’s been pretty murderous of late. I’m getting on top of it, however, and hope to resume my normal blogging schedule next week.

The good thing about having a real job is keeping busy and feeling like a professional, from constructive meetings to wall-banging over client idiocy. The bad thing is less time to invest in things like writing and blogging. I’ve known what I wanted to blog about but haven’t had the time during the day to get it written out. Perhaps I should start drafting posts the night before, if I want to keep my schedule?

Unfortunately pushed to next week are the following:

Monday: True Blood vs. Twilight
Tuesday: Over-Achievement (World of Warcraft post)
Wednesday: Iron Maiden & Guardians

Tonight I’ll draft a recap of my experiences thus far in attempting to get published, and Friday should see some new Jovian fiction.

Back to work. Barely a month in, and already I need to re-shuffle things like recording hours and prioritization. This really does feel like my first real job.

And did I mention Vera, my ‘04 Honda Civic, needs work on her electricals?

Fun times.