Introduction to Iron Painter 2016

Wyrd is hosting their Iron Painter competition again this year. Here is a link for anyone interested injoining in or following along this year. The application deadline is March 4th. The creativity behind the pieces is amazing, but it is the ability of the participants to make it through all of the rounds that is truly inspiring.

The Cycle Rolls Over

I do not make New Year's resolutions. I have considered them, but the way I figure, if there is something I was not going to do then I was unlikely to do it merely because the date changed.

I tend not to perform a focused reflection on the past year either. I am constantly looking back at my life. It's just not normally in a compartmentalized way such as placing events in boxes marked by years. In fact, I rarely put the past away at all. I simply leave it open like a festering wound to watch it turn green over time as I focus on it and seldom address the past in a meaningful way other than to permit it to depress me and attribute to my inaction in the future. Maybe this is something I should try.

Zappcon 2015 - Part 3

I took a while to type this up. Firstly, I could not hold my head upright without assistance for a couple of days after the con and was peck typing. It had nothing to do with the hold up on me assigning words to my feelings, but my throat was also a little raw as I spoke more last weekend than I do over the entirety of some months. TOTALLY. WORTH. IT. I also did not know what to blog about as there was just so much. Not everything was sunshine and puppies, but nothing kept me from coming back day two on less than three hours of sleep after more than a gallon of mixed local beers jostling around in my tummy either.

Zappcon 2015 - Part2

Sunday was less complicated than Saturday. I awoke both days at 5:30 so I could get a bath and check my backpack before catching my ride to the convention center. My morning event was a painting class. The class was being held both days, but I really wanted to get into the Atomic Robo game from Day One. The guy leading the class is a local that had been painting for long enough he still uses the GW inks. So at least the early aughts. It was bare bones beginner, but it was still fun. It started with one round table in the board game area, but spilled over to a second. After that I wandered the dealer stalls and Artists' Alley again as well as grabbed some con food.

Whisps of Smoke

I was planning on posting Part 2 of the Zappcon 2015 breakdown today. I simply wanted to state that I will wait at least one more day before posting the follow up to my last post in case anyone was waiting for it. Upon waking, I discovered a friend had died. This post contains adult language.

Zappcon 2015 - Part 1

I attended Zappcon last weekend. For those unfamiliar with Zappcon, it is a sort of mixed media convention that welcomed more than 2K people over the course of both Saturday and Sunday. Attendance might have been higher if both of the primary means of driving between Central and Southern California were not impacted by serious mudslides. It's a bit hard to figure out what I should write about. This year's Zappcon was my first convention so I don't really have anything to compare it to.

Buying Local

The topic of where we buy our models comes up frequently in the miniature wargaming hobby. The reasons for either are both varied and valid. Some people buy locally because it supports the place they are currently playing. Others buy online because it is cheaper and they are playing in their homes or the home of a friend. I do a bit of both personally. I tend to order models through my local shop unless there is an insane deal or the item I want is something my local store can not order for me.