I’m slowly working my way through Game Programming With Python. So far, it’s a great read. It really shows the right way to design the code base for a game,and it just happens to show it in Python.
It could have been written in C++ or Java or whatever. It’s fairly language-agnostic (so far), which is an added plus.
If you’re looking to play around with game development, you owe it to yourself to take a look at this book.
This morning, as I was taking a shower, I started thinking back on my first job as a sound engineer at our local church. Specifically, I was thinking back on all of our hacks to make things work the way we thought they should.
One of our big problems was communcation between the sound booth and the folks on stage. Invariably, someone would want the monitors to be lounder (or quieter), or the mix cleaned up, or something like that. We tried everything from hand signals to coded phrases, but nothing seemed to work. One day, it
clicked.
We ran an additional microphone to the piano player’s mic stand so they could talk on a talkback channel on the mixer. Simple, elegant, and most importantly,it worked.
That’s when I realized that Uncle David is gone and I’ll never get to talk to him again.
David Lopez was a bear of a man. He was large in every conceivable way. Physically, emotionally and spiritually he was a grandiose being. He filled every room, every converstation.
He got me the job. Granted, it was a volunteer position, but it was still fairly risky to trust something that big to a kid that was still in high school. I learned so much about life while working there that I will never be able to fully thank him for the opportunity.
David passed away a couple of months ago. I was away at a conference when it happened and wasn’t able to get back for the funeral. But from what I understand, our family had a large bbq/party afterwards, which is exactly how David would have wanted it.
He loved it when the family gathered together to talk and have fun. He knew what was truly important in
life, and I’m starting to learn that lesson right now.
Thank you, Big D. Have fun playing for your favorite audience. We’ll see you soon.
Just to be clear, I’m not writing these down in order to humiliate my son. I’m of the opinion that it’s almost always bad form to embarrass your children.
I really just want to record these for posterity, so that when I’m old and gray and the memories start to yellow and fade I’ll have a written account to look back on and enjoy.
Besides, a little bit of humiliation never hurt anybody 
.
Last Sunday, Tracy and I were sitting downstair on the couch watching TV. Aiden was upstairs watching The Lion King. All was quiet, which is a rarity in a house with 2 boys, when we heard the upstairs toilet flush.
“You think he’ll wash his hands?” I asked Tracy. Before she could respond, I was answered by the sound of running sink water. It ran a bit longer than your average hand-washing, but it sounded about right for a three-year-old.
About a minute goes by, and Aiden comes bounding down the stairs sans pants and underwear. He was also clutching his underwear in his left hand. This is usually not a good sign.
“Mommy,” Aiden said, “I pooped in my pants.”.
Sure enough, upon inspection, there was, shall we say, a load in the underpants. While suppressing giggles, Tracy takes the underwear and sends me upstairs to clean Aiden up. Half-way up stairs, Tracy yells “These underwear are soaked. I think he tried to wash them. Find out where.”.
“Aiden, did you try to clean your underwear?”
“Yes, Daddy. Follow me. I will show you.” Quite mature for a three year old, if you ask me.
I follow him into his restroom and tell him to take off his clothes so I can give him a bath (sometimes it’s better to just start off with a clean slate, so to speak). As we pass the sink, he points up there and says “I cleaned them in there”.
Then, he pulls up real close and in his tiniest, whisperiest voice he says “There’s some poop in there.”. And, again, there was a small surprise waiting for me in the sink.
Oh, the humanity.