September 25, 2007
Blog Roll
Finally got around to posting a blog roll. I left a few things out that seem like they've died, and in one case left someone out who I think would probably prefer her privacy, but for the most part that stuff in the side bar is what constitutes my google reader feeds. Obviously a few things fit in multiple categories, but that's pretty much my categorization in the reader.
Posted by Brett Douville at 01:11 PM | Comments (2)
January 20, 2007
Guess I'd better post
The blog finally went empty today. Guess I'd better post -- well, I've got some time tonight, so why not?
Posted by Brett Douville at 11:08 AM | Comments (0)
July 11, 2006
Ministry of Two
I was invited some months ago to preside over the wedding of two friends, Andrew and Jen, in California. The ceremony finally arrived and took place this past Sunday, on a beautifully sunny day at the Thomas Fogarty winery in Woodside, California, in the heart of the Bay Area. I am not a minister by trade nor by calling; this was, as far as I now know, a one-time thing.
In any event, several people at the wedding asked that I make the greeting and ceremony available online. Here it is.
Greeting¹
Welcome, family and friends.
When I learned that Jen and Andrew had chosen a winery for the setting of their wedding, I thought it particularly appropriate. After all, the making of wine isn't so different from a marriage. It takes good roots, good soil, light, love, and yes, sweat and toil to make a great wine -- but it's a joyful toil, given the rewards. The result is a wonderful, complex, almost living thing which is the source of a rich variety of pleasures and flavors, much like marriage can and should be.
So, I thank and welcome each and every one of you who is here today, because you are the roots and soil from which Andrew and Jen grew, two people who mean a great deal to me, two people about to formalize a beautiful union. Like a fine wine, I am excited to see how they grow better with age.
Ceremony
I've selected two readings for today. The first is from the letters of Rainer Maria Rilke.
Marriage is in many ways a simplification of life, and it naturally combines the strengths and wills of two young people so that, together, they seem to reach farther into the future than they did before. Above all, marriage is a new task and a new seriousness, a new demand on the strength and generosity of each partner, and a great new danger for both.
The point of marriage is not to create a quick commonality by tearing down all boundaries; on the contrary, a good marriage is one in which each partner appoints the other to be the guardian of their solitude, and thus they show each other the greatest possible trust. A merging of two people is an impossibility, and where it seems to exist, it is a hemming-in, a mutual consent that robs one party or both of their fullest freedom and development. But once the realisation is accepted that even between the closest people infinite distances exist, a marvelous living side by side can grow up for them, if they succeed in loving the expanse between them, which gives them the possibility of always seeing each other as a whole and before an immense sky.
We'll come back to these thoughts in a moment, after a second reading from Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities.
When you have arrived at Phyllis, you rejoice in observing all the bridges over the canals, each different from the others: cambered, covered, on pillars, on barges, suspended, with tracery balustrades. And what a variety of windows looks down on the streets: mullioned, moorish, lancet, pointed, surmounted by lunettes or stained-glass roses; how many kinds of pavement cover the ground: cobbles, slabs, gravel, blue and white tiles. At every point the city offers surprises to your view: a caper bush jutting from the fortress' walls, the statues of three queens on corbels, an onion dome with three smaller onions threaded on the spire. "Happy the man who has Phyllis before his eyes each day and who never ceases seeing the things it contains," you cry, with regret at having to leave the city when you can barely graze it with your glance.
But it so happens that, instead, you must stay in Phyllis and spend the rest of your days there. Soon the city fades before your eyes, the rose windows are exspunged, the statues on the corbels, the domes. Like all of Phyllis' inhabitants, you follow zigzag lines from one street to another, you distinguish the patches of sunlight from the patches of shade, a door here, a stairway there, a bench where you can put down your basket, a hole where your foot stumbles if you are not careful. All theh rest of the city is invisible. Phyllis becomes a space in which routes are drawn between points suspended in the void: the shortest way to reach that certain merchant's tent, avoiding that certain creditor's window.
Millions of eyes look up at windows, bridges, capers, and they might be scanning a blank page. Many are the cities like Phyllis, which elude the gaze of all, except the man who catches them by surprise.
I chose these two readings today as a pairing of things I wanted to say to Jen and Andrew, two things which play off of one another. When I first encountered the Rilke, I was struck by a peculiar sadness. I focused on the gaps between people, that uncrossable distance that separates us, two skins which often seem to be enormous walls of granite, or of lead, for all their impenetrableness. But as time has gone by, I've grown to view that distance as a source of continually renewing joy -- that despite those gulfs, love acts as a bridge to span that gap and allow two people to draw such rich pleasures, each in the company of the other. That over time two people grow and change, and each of them, with love and respect, watches over the other, in a full knowingness that though separate, they grow side by side and together. Constantly shout out your joy for each other from the parapets of these walls, so that the bridge remains strong, and so that you may never forget.
In the Calvino passage, I am reminded reading it again here of how full of wonder and awe each of your personal cities strikes me. Andrew and Jen, you are each glorious cities, which offer rewards beyond measure to your inhabitants, so long as they never cease to see them. To meld the two quotes a bit, you should begin to see each other as caretakers for the other's city, which will ever renew itself and grow, and change. Some districts will fall into disuse, some will be forever filled with light and crowds, but all of it will be the city that you watch over and love.
In a moment or two, each of you will place a ring upon the finger of the other and exchange vows. It's a very intimate moment, and all of us here are proud to be a part of it -- everyone here is focused on you, now, in the ceremony. A little bracing, isn't it? Perhaps a little scary? Before all of us, each and every one of us focused on you? Indeed, you could say the entirety of my ministry is focused on you.
You have spent a lot of time over the last months designing and considering not so much the ceremony, but the reception afterwards. But what I want to say to you now is that in each and every day, you must find a way to remember the ceremony -- to share a moment of intimacy, be it a physical remembrance such as a lingering kiss, or an emotional connection through the deep and meaningful sharing of some part of you that you have never revealed before. Each of you, like a city, has an enormous number of places to visit -- more than any one person could visit in a lifetime... but not so many that you cannot try.
Life is much like the reception -- it is all the things that take a lot more planning and care and which really end up driving you a little crazy, because it never happens as you expect. But the marriage... the marriage is here, in the ceremony, in the moments that you share alone, together. Promise me, while you exchange these vows, that you will find time in each and every day for the ceremony, a time when you don't think at all about the reception, a time when it is just the two of you, sharing an intimate connection, remembering or revealing a part of your cities that drew you to one another. Do this, and it will last.
And now, enough from me. Thank you for allowing me to share in the intimate moment that presents itself, the sharing of your vows, and the exchange of your rings.
¹It should be noted that I actually started the service by saying "I am Iron Man" and making a remark that I was in the wrong page of my missal because that the start of my purification ritual for beating Andrew at Guitar Hero. The bride was a little teary from her processional, so I ad-libbed something to lighten the mood for a moment. Both bride and groom looked amazing. (back)
Posted by Brett Douville at 01:34 PM | Comments (0)
May 19, 2006
Administrivia: Podcast & Next Post
So, a couple of things:
1. Welcome to any folks who browsed here from Evil Avatar. A few nights ago I was interviewed by Phil Kollar/Kefkataran for their weekly "Evil Avatar Radio" podcast with my reactions to E³. That was a fun experience and maybe I'll do it again some day -- thanks Phil.
2. Yes, I have a new post coming, which has some of my thoughts about the appeal of Brain Age. I haven't been "playing"¹ that long, really, but I've already formed some early opinions that may be worth sharing. I'm hoping to get to it this evening.
¹I'll admit that in the context of games generally, Brain Age as an experience isn't really play, per se. (back)
Posted by Brett Douville at 10:50 AM | Comments (0)
April 18, 2006
New Post Coming Friday
Sorry, I've been busy with lots of personal details. But someone gave me a hard time today about not posting, and I promised him I'd have something up by Friday to keep him "entertained and informed".
The post is called Industry in Crisis, which sounds a little like flame bait, now, doesn't it? Check back on Friday.
Posted by Brett Douville at 01:46 PM | Comments (2)
November 19, 2005
Administrivia
So, a few things.
1. Sorry for being absent for a while. Some personal business intervened.
2. Welcome to any Blogged Out readers who've come here. I've made the Blogged Out roll a few times now, it's always nice to be noticed (and read). Comment away, please, I'd love to hear your thoughts on current or past items.
3. Slight blog changes: I've removed the "Upcoming" area on the sidebar since it has swelled the size of the sidebar by 9KB¹ and ceased to be all that useful, even for me. The idea was to keep track of what I might post about next, based on what I've been reading, watching, or playing, but it had gotten so long that I doubt anyone was scrolling to the bottom anymore.
In future, I'll simply indicate what my next post is likely to be about, and you can still take a gander at what I'm reading, watching, and playing. Feel free to drop me a line at brett {at} brettdouville {dot} com if you care to discuss, digress, or discourse.
Upcoming article: On the sources of inspiration, spurred by a recent viewing of Finding Neverland and some other tidbits around the 'net. Likely to be posted in the next couple of days.
¹Which isn't so bad, except that it's part of every page on the site, and with all the comment-spam-crawling I seem to be getting these days, I suspect it was adding significantly to the amount of bandwidth I was consuming -- which I'll be paying for if it goes too high. Not enough for me to worry about it, but enough that small measures are probably worth taking.
Posted by Brett Douville at 12:53 PM | Comments (0)
October 12, 2005
Man, the Spam
I've not been blogging due to a cold and then some travel. So's you know.
Anyway, while I was away this past weekend I got seriously spammed. I cleared all that out before I headed out again on Monday (business travel this time) and got thoroughly re-spammed.
Ugh. There are times when I hate the Internet.
Posted by Brett Douville at 08:25 PM | Comments (0)
August 29, 2005
I made Blogged Out again
So, welcome back, GamaSutra¹ readers.
Jim Rossignol adds to the discussion, so I'll go ahead and keep talking about it in the original article's comments section.
Thanks Jim. And a belated thanks to Simon Carless for the first one.
¹Free registration sometimes required. I'm registered, so I don't know which are which.
Posted by Brett Douville at 06:19 PM | Comments (0)
August 05, 2005
Welcome GamaSutra folks...
Well, turns out I somehow got mentioned on GamaSutra. I'm not sure how.
In any case, anyone who gets sent here from there, welcome. Browse away.
For anyone out there reading, I expect to post something about why I've stopped playing World of Warcraft sometime this weekend.
Posted by Brett Douville at 11:31 PM | Comments (0)
August 03, 2005
I'm in Chicago
I've a post coming up but it needs to cook a few more days; I didn't get a chance to finish it up before I left.
Incidentally, the stuff I intend to post about is that "Upcoming" section over on the left of the page. I should probably reverse the order, but I take things off the bottom. So, expect that post to be about World of Warcraft. Cheers.
Posted by Brett Douville at 07:16 PM | Comments (2)
June 22, 2005
On Vacation
Hardly thinking about games at all. Well, maybe a little bit, but not about any games I'd be able to tell you about anyway. But mostly just relaxing the brain. I'll be posting again in a week's time.
Mario Golf, however, has been played quite a bit here, some with my brother-in-law, who has a healthy competitive instinct when it comes to golf particularly. Mario Golf helped my mini golf game, though -- beat him by two strokes, with just three over par!
Posted by Brett Douville at 03:53 PM | Comments (0)
May 22, 2005
Ah, well
I was going to blog a bit today, but my hard drive crashed last night, so I am without a 'net, so to speak. This phone isn't great for posts.
Posted by Brett Douville at 11:52 AM | Comments (0)
May 18, 2005
I think I'm back
Grief sapped my will to write for a little while there, but I think I'm back. Thanks for everyone's kind thoughts.
Posted by Brett Douville at 09:35 PM | Comments (0)
March 28, 2005
Regrounding the Blog
So, I've been thinking lately that while writing what I think about various books and movies is fun and all, one of the things I'd like to do, at least for a little while, is re-ground some of my thoughts in terms of what I do for a living as a game developer and as a game player. I'm going to give it a try for a little while, at least.
Some books & movies may have nothing to do with what I do, and yet may still have applications to what I do. Some have quite a lot to do with it, even directly, due to subject matter or whatever (as with Band of Brothers, the first entry to follow this new thinking).
Anyway, let me know what you think. Cheers.
Posted by Brett Douville at 08:18 PM | Comments (0)
March 22, 2005
Damn the Spam
I had turned off unregistered comments due to getting too much spam. I hate not having them on, so I've re-enabled them. Be warned that there may be some occasional spam I need to clear out until I've found a better solution.
Posted by Brett Douville at 07:26 AM | Comments (0)
March 03, 2005
Brotherhood of Mini
I bought a Mini shortly after I moved to Maryland -- I knew I was going to be in the car a lot, and after driving a Civic for 10 years, I decided to treat myself to something a little higher-end. So, as most of you know, I've now got a "liquid yellow" Mini.
So, now, as I'm driving to and from work, I often find myself seeing another Mini -- and exchanging a little wave. The best waves are the ones that come through the front window -- it's not like an afterthought, but like belonging to a club with a secret handshake. It's fun! Call it the Brotherhood of Mini.
What it reminds me most of is the random buffs you get and give in World of Warcraft¹. You're running along, you target someone and buff them, they maybe whisper thanks -- and you move on, a little happier, just in a tiny way. Feels good; it's not actual community, but it's communal feeling, and that's kind of nice.
So, to the gentleman in the blue Mini today, and the woman in the chili red one with the white bonnet stripes -- hey, thanks, you raised me up for a minute on the long drive. And thanks, too, to the high-level troll who buffed me last night; sorry, I didn't get your name, you were moving too fast.
¹Obviously, not unique to that, just what I personally play.
PS. In other news, Brent Sienna drives a Mini. Welcome, my cartoon brother. /wave
Posted by Brett Douville at 07:44 PM | Comments (0)
January 22, 2005
Here goes... something...
So, I'm off and blogging. Many thanks to my fine friend Loren's fine hosting service, I couldn't have done it without you.
My blog is intended to reflect my thoughts and opinions about a number of things, including games, books, and movies. I'm an avid consumer of all three, but a developer of the first. So, occasionally I may spend a little time talking about game development, like Jamie does, but mostly it will be more along the lines of reviews and such.
Expect the look of the site to be unstable for a little while as I figure out how I want it to look.
Cheers, thanks for reading.
Posted by Brett Douville at 07:21 PM | Comments (2)