- The insistent ramblings of creative writer and game industry veteran Joe Houston.Learn more...
Archive for January, 2011
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The Democracy of Digital Distribution
Posted on January 30, 2011 | Posted In: The Game Industry | 4 CommentsDigital distribution is arguably the greatest innovation in video games for our generation. Now before the trolls fire up their flamethrowers, I’ll immediately concede that the statement seems absurd on its face. After all, despite all manner of hand waving, one can hardly point to successful merchants in the arena… -
From Marx to Mario
Posted on January 25, 2011 | Posted In: The Game Industry | No CommentsCan you start with a picture of Karl Marx, the embodiment of communist ideology, and end up with a challenge to game developers to make more delicious American dollars? You can, and you can do it in 5 minutes or less. For those that missed my 5 minute microtalk at… -
Timepieces
Posted on January 17, 2011 | Posted In: Poems | 1 CommentDigital clocks are too quiet
For my silence
Which is currently pervasive
And Elusive
Drawn out on thick currents of breath whisping like tides
From my lips.
I need clocks that tick and measure
That loft explanations into the air
And strike its surface like a tuning fork. My analog… -
Green Thumb
Posted on January 17, 2011 | Posted In: Poems | No CommentsWhen he spoke to you that way
The way that made your eyelashes curl inward
Pinching in like the rigid splayed legs of a crushed lady bug
He plucked a bright seed from within you
And pinched it tightly between his thumb and forefinger.
It was absent minded, but his… -
Unconditional
Posted on January 17, 2011 | Posted In: Poems | No CommentsUnconditional… The taste of her mouth
Sipped along the smooth edge of
Imminent anticipatory
Promises of water.
When the first drop pointedly struck
The back of my neck,
I knew from the drowsy shriek
Of odor seeping into the base of my eyes
That she smelled like rain. And the -
The Ballad of Mother Eve
Posted on January 17, 2011 | Posted In: Poems | No CommentsThe Ballad of Mother Eve…
There was a garden and a boy
Both awash in verdant joy
But only one with tousled hair
And only one with Cacky Bear.
Cacky Bear with glassy eyes
Reflected all the cloudy skies
As seen mirrored somewhat true
In the boy’s own eyes -
The NICU: A Day at the Beach
Posted on January 16, 2011 | Posted In: The Kid | 3 CommentsWhether you’re plunging toward rock-bottom with your lips wrapped around an amber-colored bottle, or you’re registering for a seminar on how toxins feed thetans to Lord Xenu, it’s usually agreed that “life changing experiences” are steps on a journey to somewhere predictable. And yet, while having a baby in the…