What Do You Know? It's September.

I made myself an Instagram account. My initial thought was to post gaming-related photos there. I've recently gone back to painting miniatures, so I figured I could post those there. I've also volunteered to help organize a tabletop game club at my kids' high school, and I reckon there might be some good photo ops there, too.

I used to game a lot. Then we had kids and, well, the gaming went by the wayside for a little while. Before we moved to Montreal, we played every other week or so. I ran games for a while, and my friend JZ stepped in to run a game when I got GM fatigue. Moving here made for a pretty big disruption, but we're back on schedule. JZ runs his game on Roll20, and I've started a Call of Cthulhu game at work with my Narrative team.

All that said, I miss running games at home. Outside of work, I don't have many local friends or acquaintances (yet). Networking isn't always easy. I'm hoping the school club introduces me to some new folks.

I created this program back home (in the US) called Dungeon Scouts. I was a Girl Scout leader and I would run workshops to introduce girls to D&D. I planned to bring DS with me to Montreal, but by the time I got here, the Girl Guides were already wrapping up their year. I expect they'll start up again soon.

There's definite value in Dungeon Scouts. There's also the unknown elements. Being a man (oftentimes the only one) in the Girl Scouts of America was... interesting. In the beginning there was a feeling of, "Who is this guy?" from other leaders. It quickly faded, though. I was fully accepted into the organization, which is what gave me the impetus to start Dungeon Scouts in the first place.

Now that I'm in Montreal, there are a few things that give me pause.

1.) I don't know anyone in the Girl Guides here (though I have been in touch with one of the ladies in charge, and should probably drop her a line if I'm serious about starting the program here).
2.) French. I do not speak it. I'm picking it up a bit at a time, but I'm not even close to being "there" when it comes to communicating. I don't know how French Girl Guides Quebec is liable to be.
3.) Montreal. This place... it's unlike anywhere I've ever lived. It's an island. The roads are horrible. Parking (especially in the city) is sparse or non-existent. Driving anywhere requires a significant investment of time.
4.) Speaking of time, I don't know how much of that I have. I'm still getting used to living here. I have a routine of sorts, and it's sort of intimidating when I think about breaking it.
5.) Something else I haven't thought of yet.

Excuses, excuses. I know.

The way I see it right now, I'll forge ahead with the school club for now. I'll see how that goes and then decide from there what I want to do. There's no time limit, right?

Oh, I need to get more Dungeon Scouts patches made. I suppose I'll contact the manufacturer and get an estimate on costs. I'll have them shipped to my friend (and partner in crime) JZ. He's a really good dude and, dammit, I miss him every single day.

Enough pontificating. Maybe I'll paint some stuff.

Almost September

Why do I always find myself back here when September rolls around? I know it's still August, nearly a year since Carbine shut down and about six months since I started my job at Ubisoft Montreal.

I've been very quiet on the social media. I guess I was never particularly noisy. I don't (usually) like to brag, and I'm not one who's ever felt comfortable airing his grievances or personal issues to a gallery of veritable strangers (anyone who actually knows me is excluded). There's enough negativity in the world. I don't need to add to it, regardless of the theoretical cartharsis it might provide.

So... Montreal. We found a nice, quiet place to rent. It's not too far from the office, though the traffic here adds 30 minutes to just about any commute. Parking is nothing like California (where half the urban landscape seems to be taken up by parking lots). Lots of people ride bicycles in the summer, and many of them appear to be suicidal.

It doesn't feel like home here. I don't know if it ever will. Is it the psychological impact of living in another country, surrounded by people who don't always speak your language? Could be. I often comment to friends that, with my first industry job (at EA Mythic in Virginia), I couldn't wait to get out of California. Having returned there to work at Carbine for six years, I think I realized that California--for all its expense, drought, earthquakes, and fires--is my home.

Regardless of how I feel, this is where I'll be for the foreseeable future. I love working for Ubisoft. The project is a lot of fun so far. The people are amazing. My work matters and I feel like I belong. I don't know how long I'll be here, so I'm trying to take it one day at a time. I don't always succeed.

So that's it for now. Maybe more later, if I remember this blog still exists. For now, I'm relatively safe and sound. The family is well. The cats and dog are still sleeping, eating, and pooping. What more can a man ask for?