New Goals and New Beginnings

Published: Mon, 02/11/19

Hey !

So I have this secret desire. I've always wanted to compete on Survivor. You know, that show on CBS where they stick everyone on an island and make them vote each other off? Yes, it is still on, and it is still great. I didn't really start watching it until season 19 (they're up to 37 seasons now), but after that, I went back and watched all the old seasons on YouTube. I think it really is one of the greatest games there is because it challenges you in so many different ways - mentally, physically, and socially. And, okay, if you've been read my musings for a while, you know that I'm not a particularly social person, but I still want to try it. How could I not?

So I've applied a couple times in the past, but got nowhere. I was not an interesting person then. But now I have created the #1 game on BoardGameGeek, and I feel like I have a bit of a stronger angle than before. I don't know, maybe I'm delusional, but I've decided to start trying again.

The problem is that over the last few years, I've lived a very sedentary lifestyle. I work from home, I eat snacks all day. I've gained about 25 pounds and am kinda out of shape.

I've never really been "in shape," I guess, but my vegan diet kept me pretty thin at least - thin enough to go shirtless on national television - but that is no longer the case. And so, however bizarre that motivation may be - that tiny, long-shot potential of competing on Survivor - I started going to the gym.

It happened kind of randomly, too. For a long time I had been intending on starting to go to the gym once the Cephalofair Games calmed down a bit, but it never actually happened. But one day, about two months ago, I was going to do some Gloomhaven testing with my play test group, and all but one canceled at the last minute. The guy who was still available, my friend John, went to the gym a lot, so on an impulse, I just said, "Hey, you want to go to the gym instead and show me around?"

So, anyway, this story is getting long, and I'm pretty sure it's not very interesting, but I guess the point is that it was a good decision. I'm feeling a lot better about myself, I'm feeling healthier, and we do a lot of strength training so maybe one day I'll be able to compete physically on Survivor. Also, I just get to talk to John a lot while we work out, so maybe I'm enhancing my social game as well. My plan is to get confident enough by the end of this year to start applying again.

Chris Evans definitely goes to the gym.

What else is there to talk about? Well, I'm going to my first convention of the year this weekend - Piranha Pig Con! It's the low-key, games-heavy convention for fans of Blue Peg, Pink Peg. About 30 or so people gather in a huge cabin in Virginia. I'm really looking forward to it, but it's going to be a long drive!

I also recently got an opportunity to play my first 18XX game, 1846, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. It's a lot of math, which, after 5 hours of play, gets very tiresome, but still, I am very, very keen on exploring the 18XX world further. I am even hoping to get a game in at Piranha Pig Con.

And while I probably should have led the newsletter with this instead of burying it down here, I am also super-excited to announce that Cephalofair Games is hiring its first full time employee (other than me, I guess). Price Johnson, who has been working as a part-time community manager for a year and a half, is coming on as the VP of Operations and Marketing to fix all the stuff I've neglected over the last few years (aside from my growing gut - I'll have to fix that myself). This is going to be great, especially in terms of getting replacement parts out faster, doing some official merchandising, and lots of other things. I am going to go into detail about it in a blog post tomorrow, but I figure I might as well mention it now.

Forgotten Circles pre-order is closing!

And, listen, this is the last time I'm going to beat this drum, but the pre-sale for Forgotten Circles is almost over. We're going to start shipping product out from China at the end of this month, so we'll be closing the pre-order at that time. If you want to get the expansion before it is shipped to stores, the window is closing soon!

Other than that, have a wonderful day, and if you know any of the Survivor producers, you know how to find me!