my writing

1997 - 2024

I have been writing for this website since Jan 1 of 1997. (Not that anyone's been reading!)

book reviews (142 items)

movie reviews (1008 items)

about me

fiction (5 items)

creating things

wood carvings

a toy for my boy

a custom wooden toy

carving Buddha

how to photograph diamond jewelry

re-building an old PC for photo editing

articles

the nature of reality

luck (and bird shit)

turning thirty

turning forty

turning fifty

oh Fermi and your paradox

quantum science for a real mind-bend

allosaurus vs. t-rex

a smuggler in the family

page this!

seventy seven kilometers from nowhere

reviews

quietly despairing with Seiko's SARB033

my fishing watch - the Casio MDV-106

dismantling a Casio MDV-106 Duro

review: Minolta X-700 camera

review: Olympus 35DC

review: Minolta XD - XD-11

review: Pentax *istDS

review: Olympus OMD EM5 Mk II

my CASIO weighs a ton

don't buy a St. Moritz made-in-Canada watch

review: Alba solar watch (AQGD403)

review: Kodak EasyShare Z612

modifying a Guanqin watch

review: Asus 'TUF Gaming' FX504G

review: DxO Photolab 6

review: Olympus OMD EM5 Mk III

parenting

teaching your kid to ride a bike

teaching your kid to fish

a toy for my boy

spending

my grandfather's funeral speech

the funeral speech I couldn't give

on management

throwing ducklings to the muskies

genealogy

Neil MacKenzie 1821-1921

a difficult name

the abattoir - my ghost story

swimming with dolphins

favorite experiences in Australia

how I got kicked out of Japan

remembering my father

a smuggler in the family

avoid plastic bags

completing a Canadian PR application

amusements

dungeons and dragons

better character classes for B-X D&D

a fey druid species for dungeons and dragons

a new take on the halfling

infravision no more

magic in basic dungeons and dragons

new monsters for dungeons and dragons

dungeons and dragons monster: ankheg

dungeons and dragons monster: krickler

dungeons and dragons monster: nalek

dungeons and dragons monster: xenomorph pudding

dungeons and dragons monster: zosk thaumaphage

dungeons and dragons monster: xlid

dungeons and dragons monster: quoth raven

dungeons and dragons monster: ychnurc frog

dungeons and dragons monster: troll

dungeons and dragons monster: fire salamander

dungeons and dragons monster: yellow tongue

dungeons and dragons monster: flumph

dungeons and dragons monster: owlbear

dungeons and dragons monster: xuuc

dungeons and dragons monster: zombie mermaid

random monster encounters

better wilderness pursuit rules for B-X D&D

improving D&D monster encounter tables

cornelius clifford's small medieval castle

new alignments for dungeons & dragons

terrain evolution simulator

keeping an aquarium

civilization III add-ons

kanji study tool (2,228 items)

quotes collection (252 items)

rand()m quote

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.

—Siddhārtha Gautama (The Buddha)