Quantum Storytelling

Kristin over at “Write now is good” tagged me with the “5 little known facts” meme. Normally I don’t get into these little blogosphere games, but for fear of being a scrooge and a little thing called my ego, I’ll give it a try!

1. My last name is von Rothkirch, which is German. People assume I’m German. I’m 50% Swedish and 25% Norwegian. My grandfather made up my last name in the 1940s. I suppose if he’d stuck with his real last name, my last name would be Tkach. Don’t ask me to pronounce that! Some have told me that’s Czech. So I might be a fraction Czech, spiced with copious amounts of Viking blood.
2. In the fourth grade I scored eighth grade reading level and second grade math. I always aced reading, and later foreign languages. Nobody seemed to care about this. I was always a bad kid for failing math. At least it means I won’t end up in a Special Education writing class… I hope.
3. I play guitar. I was in a rock band as a teenager. No we weren’t famous, but we wanted to be. The band went through several incarnations. It started as a bad grunge metal band then evolved into new wave and electronica then into hardcore indie. Here is a song we played live around 1997 in the basement of Extreme Noise record shop in Minneapolis, Minnesota. You guess which phase we were in, and when you figure it out tell me because I have no clue.
4. I went to an Audio Recording Specialist program at a technical college. I wanted to be a music producer, along with 20 other kids in the class. Butch Vig was my hero. I wonder how many ended up as famous music producers? I learned a lot about sound, the human ear, and recording. It pushed me towards sound design for games, so I guess I owe my current job to that.
5. I started in the game industry as a level designer. Now I’m a sound designer. I tell people I enjoy writing. This confuses people. That’s okay, a lot of things about me confuse people — like why I enjoy doing so many varied things, none of which I excel at. Jack of all trades, master of none. I prefer Dirty Dilettante. It sounds more dashing. When your hobby becomes your job then it’s time for you to find a new hobby. Trust me on that.

Now you know more than you could ever possibly want to know about me. Thanks Kristin!

Or is that speed up? Everyone seems busy, the blogosphere has gotten pretty quiet. I didn’t think I was one of the quiet ones, but it turns out it’s looking that way ever since I got an XBOX 360! I’ve been playing a lot of Viva Piñata, and Gears of War.

Of course the wife has been playing Hexic and I got her Bejeweled 2 on XBOX Live Arcade. She’s also got her own Piñata garden.

Last night we tried out the Sonic demo, which was alright — Sonic runs so fast at times we ran him right off a cliff. We also tried out the LEGO Star Wars II demo, which was an insane amount of fun. The wife’s been bugging me about what to get me for Xmas, and I figure that might be a good one.

In more writing related news, I tried out a nifty new note-taking and To Do web app with integrated calendar called Stikkit. Made myself a story To Do list and set the due date for December 31st. This’ll give me motivation to do more than play the 360 over the Christmas break. It’s a pretty nifty free web app, check it out!

P.S. My 360 gamertag is Redchurch77 if any of you are playing.

Forgive me if this is a little late, as I wasn’t aware. The economist Milton Friedman died last Thursday November 16th at the ripe old age of 94. The bulk of his work in economics and political dialogue was cemented before I was even born. I came across his theories a few years back when I was studying economics as they pertain to logic, truth, and freedom.

Never was there a more rational voice for limiting the role of government, especially in what seems a neverending age where the American and worldwide public seem to crave more and more intrusion from government into their daily lives.

I fear what the world may become without the voices of men like Milton Friedman. I can only hope with his passing that he might grow in fame or even infamy. It is up to the rest of us to carry the torch.

Rest in peace, Milt.