For the uninitiated, MTG releases (mostly) unique sets of cards, (usually) 140-350 cards each, (usually) 4 times a year. Each of these sets has a unique expansion symbol printed on each of its cards to distinguish its origin. They're often in "blocks" of 2-3 sets that are related.

I mostly stopped playing/collecting when I left for college in 2002, picked the game back up briefly from 2009-2010, played sporadically at Icrontic events, and then started again a little over a year ago. When it came time to dust off the ol' Magic card sets, I wanted to be able to have them sitting out in the house somewhere without it looking like... well, a giant pile of Magic cards in school binders.

Nerd stuff's gotta match the decor, man.

Step 1 was to find some nice binders. After much searching, I found a 3-ring Barrister binder with optional sleeves. Spill- and dust-proofing the binders was high on my priority list, so I splurged on a set of these.

Step 2 was to be able to identify what was in each binder. I wanted to put expansion symbols on them, but it had to be in a classy, fairly subtle way. These binders go in the pub, so writing on the spine in a silver Sharpie was way out of bounds. I considered custom vinyl stickers, but some of the symbols were far too detailed. Stencils seemed a poor choice for similar reasons.

Eventually, I settled on clear adhesive-backed printer paper. Now it was down to finding and printing all those symbols. Fortunately I stumbled upon Keyrune, a new open source font of all the Magic: The Gathering symbols, hosted on GitHub. Now I was getting somewhere!

After a test run on plain paper to gauge sizing, the first run on sticker paper.

Trying out the first binder - all 3 sets in the Ice Age block, 1 per color area. Great success

The 7 blocks of the pre-modern era of Magic.

As I'm able to afford more binders and cards, this system is very easily expandable and looks classy as hell. Pretty happy with the outcome.

Go.

@Thrax introduced ASMR to @RyanFodder and I on Mumble a couple years ago, and I've become a big fan! For those who aren't familiar, ASMR stands for "Autonomous sensory meridian response" It refers to that tingly sensation you get down the back of your head/neck when you see something exciting-- sort-of that "I got chills" feeling you get when you watch the new Star Wars trailer, if you're me. Not much scientific research has been done into ASMR, but there's a lot of supporting anecdotal evidence.

Some people find that certain sounds can trigger that tingly ASMR response, which has lead to a large community on Youtube of ASMR video creators. These people create all sorts of different videos incorporating different sounds in order to try and elicit an ASMR response from you. Some of these videos are just lots of different sounds, and others are entire roleplays about different things.

I actually don't really get an ASMR response from any of these videos, but I still find a lot of the roleplays really soothing. I find they're useful in helping me go to sleep-- I'm less likely to be thinking about dumb stuff if I'm distracted by someone talking about giving me a facial.

I thought it would be neat if we linked some of our favorite ASMR videos and artists here! I'm always looking for new people to listen to. I'm pretty picky, though-- I only do roleplays and they can't have whispering, heh. I'm a weirdo who finds that the sound of people whispering makes me panic, which eliminates like....75% of ASMRs, heh.

It's generally recommended that you have decent headphones/earbuds on to listen to these. When I do them at night, I use headphones specifically for sleeping. These are mine and they're pretty okay.

Some of my fave videos and artists:

Jellybean Green is one of my faves. This is a nice short personal attention roleplay that she does:

Heather Feather is pretty well-known and has some great stuff. This is actually just a video of a bunch of triggers, to help you figure out what you like and dislike:

ASMRequests is also very well known and has some great stuff

The ASMR thing has kind of exploded, so the nice thing is that you can find pretty much anything you want to out there, with some pretty impressive production values. Do you want Galadriel to take care of you? Or eat at Bob's Burgers? Are you interested in reliving a gynecological visit? (NO) Anything you want, it's pretty much out there.

Share your fave videos with me!

A couple of definitions for those who may not be familiar with fountain pens"
-posting - the act of putting the cap on the non-writing end of the pen
-cartridge converter - for pens that take ink cartridges, a converter fits in the same space and allows you to fill the pen with ink from a bottle.
-nib - the writing tip of the pen. They come in many widths, so for this thread I'll use F=fine, M=medium, B=broad. Typically Japanese pens (Pilot, Sailor, etc.) definition are a full step finer than European/American. So a Japanese M should be approx. European F.
-generally, inks have different flow rates across brands and even colours within a brand. So, if you hate how your pen writes, try a different ink. For example, Pelikan pens are known to flow very well, but their inks are somewhat dry to compensate. Their ink may not work well in a pen that likes more flow, you may find it scratchy and inconsistent.
-nail - a nib that has no flex and likely no line variation. Most modern steel and many gold nibs are like this.
-feed - the black part on the back of the nib, where the ink comes down from the reservoir and 'feeds' the nib

I'm not sure how many pics I can attach to a single thread nor if I can keep them in any sort of order. I'll do what I can, but I'll make a partial list for now.

Noodler's - Flex and Ahab. They essentially have the same very flexible approx medium nib. Very wet writers, lots of ink flow - particularly the Ahab (the fat one), which can be messy to handle, though not on paper. Designed as much for art as for actual writing. Cheap entry level pens, I'd never ever carry one around in my pocket.

Lamy aion M- a new model for Lamy mid 2017. Solid aluminum construction. Cartridges or cartridge converter, which is how I use it. Very very very smooth medium nib (definitely a nail), my favourite to write with at the moment and is my daily user at my desk. However, I HATE that the cap is loose and rattles when on, and takes significant effort to post (put on the back end of the pen while writing), you have to really push it down on the barrel to get a solid fit. As I much prefer to post, I won't carry it around with my - here at home, I've had the cap flop off while writing multiple times, I'd lose it out in the field.

Kaweko Brass Sport M- wanted this for field/pocket carry. Cartridge only, though I believe you can get a small capacity converter. Awful out of the box, reading online tells me many have the same experience but flushing or soaking the pen with a gentle soap & water solution fixes a lot of that - it did for me. I still don't love how it writes, having tried a couple different brand cartridges, but it's at least usable and I will field test it this week. The cap is a little loose posted, which may become an issue if it moves around or pops off - the pen is MUCH to short to use unposted, at least for me. Also to note, online writing suggests the cartridges can come loose, I put a wad of paper towel in the back end of the barrel to prevent this occurence, which is a common hack.

Pilot Metropolitan F - (no pic) cheap entry level, but excellent construction. One of the 3 generally recommended for entry level fountain pens. Cartridges or cartridge converter - it may not come with one, but mine did and they can be had online for cheap. The F nib is way too scratchy and thin for my use, though my wife likes it after I put a better flowing ink in it. I would like to try one in M.

Pilot Namiki Falcon - nib is 14K gold SM = SOFT Medium, allowing for more flex and line variation. Just opened up and inked it today, both my wife and I tried it out. Nice smooth writer for both of us. A strong candidate for a pocket pen when I'm wearing a suit, it has the 'classic' black and gold trim look. Lighter than either of us expected. Posts well. Mid level price range around $150. Pilot is a very well respected fountain pen manufacturer, and this is a commonly recommended 'next level' pen.

Pilot Namiki Silvern Tsumugi M - I am a BIG sucker for sterling silver, this is an all silver body that comes/came in I believe 4 different patterns. I'm going to not ink this one for now, and keep it in 'new in box' condition. I believe the series has been discontinued though you can still find a few new on ebay. Handling it, the body is much smoother than I expected from seeing pictures. Side note, yes it can tarnish over time. For some, what will be part of the beauty of it. I haven't yet investigated, but there are small bags you can get that prevent tarnishing.

Jackie: Should I go to the store or go see The Last Jedi again?
Esti: That's a tough one. I really want to see it again but I want to finish rewatching the other ones first.
Jackie: Hmm, I rewatched them all before I saw The Force Awakens, but maybe I should do it again. I'm clearly forgetting a lot of things.

An hour later:

Jackie: OH god why am I rewatching the Phantom Menace

1. It was like the worst possible thing to drop in the toilet.
2. i never ate scallops again after that
3. there's no way {coworker} isn't going to notice you did that
4. I think she was dead when I left her.
5. so i promised that was the last time i'd even *look* at pasties

The trick is to make it as personally embarrassing as possible without crossing a line. Contributions welcome.

Ok check it. Cartoon Network has this show called Steven Universe. Basically, you need to be watching it. It's incredible. It's a story about a boy who has been raised by three super human beings known as the Crystal Gems, and they save Earth from all sorts of messed up stuff.

The show is incredibly charming, genuinely funny, and hits you in the emotional guts in all the right ways. Rebecca Sugar, the creator of Steven Universe, was one of the original writers on Adventure Time. So think AT, but without all the LOLRANDOM humor and with real character development. Also, really frigging incredibly music.

The show is in Season 1 right now on Cartoon Network, airing on Thursdays. You can watch it there, or iTunes, or Android Play store, or, well, here: http://www.animeflavor.com/cartoon/steven-universe

This is the perfect time to get into this show. Story is just picking up and getting serious. Watch it, and let's talk about it.

Also, Pearl is best gem. Live it.

All in all, this is looking like a very interesting Volume. I can't wait!

!!!

"DuckTales" will premiere in a one-hour television movie to be presented for 24 consecutive hours, SATURDAY, AUGUST 12

Awesome.

Mrs. Beakley's granddaughter, Webby Vanderquack, resident adventurer and the triplet's newfound fierce friend.

Oh man. A+ naming.

The opening scene was tremendous. The first several minutes of the movie are a beautiful montage set to David Bowie's "Space Oddity" and it tells a story of an optimistic, hopeful, peaceful future where all human races come together to further science, exploration, and the race for the stars. Hundreds of years pass in seconds, and we see the first contact with aliens, the growth of a new galactic civilization, and a unified, peaceful government coalition of hundreds of worlds.

Then,

The movie starts, the lead actors come on, and it all goes to shit.

The acting is awful, the characters are miserable, the performances are phoned in, and there is ZERO chemistry between the two leads; since so much of the convoluted mess of a story revolves around their love, this is important.

What a mess.

BUT the exciting thing I want to share today is that the first print volume is out today! It's a full-color, high-quality paperback containing the first three issues, and all the one-pagers that came in between. You can pick it up here, or on your country's Amazon site.

I will also have copies of the book (along with my other new book, Peacemaker) at EPIC next week if you are going to be there, and want to take a look! I'll be giving a reading from Peacemaker, and selling and signing books afterward as usual.

The new volume begins with "Peacemaker", a newly refinished novella that I originally wrote back in 2009. The story won the R.M. Miller Award for Outstanding Fiction in 2010, but the award did not include publication (it's a scholarship award for fiction writers), so this book is the first place this story has seen print. It's about a Prince in the clockwork kingdom of The Dominion who discovers a dark family secret, and must choose where his loyalties lay. (If you're familiar with the mythology of my fantasy stories, this takes place during the Clockwork Era, which is the era of relative peace that followed the turmoil of the Shadow Era.)

Following the novella is 31 (31!) SF/F flash fiction stories, a few of which have never before seen print.

I'll be reading from this book, and have copies available, at EPIC this year, if you want to pick one up. If you won't be there this time, there is always Amazon!

And stay tuned: I've got another book coming out in time for EPIC. I'll give you a hint: It's made almost entirely from recycled material.

With my work cutting my hours, I am currently working on finding a new job. I am currently filling out an application for a ThinkGeek physical storefront and came across this section.

(It states "Please list your pop culture and/or collectibles knowledge.")

I am just wanting to make sure I have an understanding on what they are asking for "pop culture" Are they asking about music, movies, YouTube, television, anime/animated shows (i.e. RWBY), video games, etc.? I am mostly wondering if I'm in the ballpark in my thinking.

Thanks!

aspieRommel