28 may 2022 | curation

Einstein had multiple sets of the same outfit. He didn’t want to think about what to wear, so he could devote his time and energy to more important things. Steve Jobs swiped the idea. I do the same thing in other areas. Meal planning, for example, frees me from having to think about what I’m eating. Since I do all of the cooking, we tend to have the same things for lunch and dinner every week. If I can make a batch of something on the weekend, and just heat it up, all the better. This week we’re having sandwiches with veggies for lunch, and bean burritos with sliced apples for dinner. We always have a bagel and an orange for breakfast, except for Sunday, when I make pancakes.

I’ve been revising my work schedule around spoons and distractions. I know what time rush hour traffic will bring thumping car stereos and impatient people laying on their horns. I know when I’m going to get too tired to perform certain types of tasks. While I still have some fine-tuning to do, I think I’ve settled into what type of work I do at what point of the day. This is Einstein’s grey suit. If it’s morning, I’m doing these things.

Having tired of picking music to listen to, I just pick a band. My music service of choice plays that band until I decide I want something else, then I pick another band. Thankfully I have a lot of favorite bands. I keep the book I’m reading sitting on the coffee table. When it’s time to read, or when I want to take a break, I can pick it up. I’m at a point where I only watch 2 or 3 TV shows, and only shows that are complete, or at least at the end of a season. I have an afternoon show, a dinner show, and late-night show. If I’m done for the day, I know what I’m watching. When I’ve exhausted that show, then I’ll pick another show.

There’s more to this that I need to think about. Part of it is managing opportunity cost (time spend making decisions that ultimately don’t matter is time wasted). Some of it is minimalism (fewer choices brings a form of freedom). All of it is curation, and I need to contemplate that.

I hope you’re doing well today.

BerinKinsman.com | Lightspress Media

26 may 2022 | project plans

Part of yesterday was spent creating a project plan to make 19 titles available via print-on-demand. It includes 6 titles that haven’t been released yet. I want all of them out on both DriveThruRPG and Amazon by the end of August at the latest.

Aside from managing that as a whole separate project, I am editing the DoubleZero and Hippogryph versions of Campaign Journaling.

I hope you’re doing well today.

BerinKinsman.com | Lightspress Media

25 may 2022 | gun violence

I don’t know what to say today. What’s left that hasn’t already been said over and over and over again, ad infinitum, ad nauseum, since at least April 20, 1999. We’ve put up with this for over 23 years, and every time there’s some idiot with a punchable face whining that it’s too soon to talk about it, to do something about it, to “politicize” the issue.

Last year I was working on a gun supplement for DoubleZero Classic. A full catalog of common, historical, and noteworthy firearms. At the same time, I was seeing news and conversations about mass shootings, police shootings, January 6th, white supremacists, nationalism, imperialism, and colonialism. It made me question my involvement in perpetuating a certain harmful mindset.

That was when I made the decision to not only stop development on that book but to pivot the development of the DoubleZero system. It was about more than just eliminating tables. I needed to shift the focus away from violence toward investigation and social interaction. Not all fiction is about fight scenes and murder. Roleplaying has more to explore than that, too.

The hotrod in my garage, what I tinker with when I have free time, is a roleplaying system that doesn’t even have a combat system. I want to build worlds that I’d like to live in, instead of reflections of this one.

I hope you’re doing well today.

BerinKinsman.com | Lightspress Media

24 may 2022

The Deal of the Day for DoubleZero lasts until 11am Eastern today. Save 40%.

That one small issue with the print-on-demand file for DoubleZero has been fixed and resubmitted. Again, not a printer issue, a me issue. I’m being picky. Now we wait. If the proof for this round looks good, I will begin submitting other books. The goal is to have everything available as POD by the end of the summer at the latest.

I was going to release Campaign Journaling today, but DriveThru is having some back-end issues. Those may not be resolved for a few days. I will drop it as soon as possible, Meanwhile, I’m working on the DoubleZero- and Hippogryph-specific versions of that book, as well as continuing edits on Character Journaling.

I hope you’re doing well today.

BerinKinsman.com | Lightspress Media

23 may 2022

DoubleZero proofs were received and reviewed over the weekend. They look gorgeous but need one minor tweak. It’s a “me” thing, not a printer thing. I will be taking care of that ASAP and resubmitting them to the printer. The good news is that it only took about 3 weeks from submission to receipt. We’re still on track to have everything available in print long before the end of the summer.

I hope you’re doing well today.

BerinKinsman.com | Lightspress Media