Hello, Internets. It’s been a while – since late June. I am quite abashed, but thought I’d catch you up on the past couple of months of me, me, me. All in all, I’ve had a pretty satisfying summer, and fall so far is shaping up to be equally awesome. Lots of music, gaming and other nerdery, babies, and animals. I cannot complain about any of these things!

In terms of music, the apex moment for me would have to be seeing Nine Inch Nails at Bowery Ballroom in August. I was very lucky to get tickets, and since I figured it would probably be the one of the last times I will see NIN, I showed up at the venue a couple hours early to swelter with the other black-clad folks on the sidewalk. And it was well worth it – I ended up at the front of the pit, only about a foot away from the stage. It was a fairly obnoxious pit, in fact, and I was mightily bruised for a week or so after, but I’m glad I stuck it out. Take a gander at the setlist – I’m happy I was up front for all those songs. I managed to get a couple of videos, as well. Here’s The Hand That Feeds, Something I Can Never Have, and Gave Up. All in all, a very satisfying show, even if it ends up being the last NIN show I see.

I also stopped by the new Knitting Factory space in Brooklyn a couple weeks back to see cEvin Key doing a DJ set in anticipation of the release of Beyond the Vault and the Skinny Puppy tour that starts next month. I have a little clip of that too, though if you’re not already a cEvin fan you’ll probably wonder why you’re watching a dude standing at a laptop. I really enjoyed the set, and have pre-ordered my copy of the Vault, but the experience did make me wonder exactly why I spent so much time in nightclubs in college. I spent a couple of hours sitting at the bar, nursing an overpriced drink and listening to another DJ play a bunch of Skinny Puppy while we waited for cEvin to go on, and being grateful I don’t still do that a couple nights a week.

And my last musical bit of note is that last night I went to The Lord of the Rings at Radio City Music Hall, and it was fucking incredible. They showed The Fellowship of the Ring in its entirety while the orchestra and choir performed the score live. I actually just re-read Fellowship a few weeks ago so I was perfectly in the mood to see the film again, and the live score was so immersive that it was a completely new experience and I very much enjoyed it. The highlight for me would have to be the young boy who sang the solo you hear when Gandalf is trapped alone on top of Orthanc. If you have the chance to see this in your city, I heartily recommend that you go for it.

I’ve also been doing a ton of gaming the past couple of months. I’m still enjoying my 4th edition D&D game. My little tiefling warlock is level 6 now, and able to fuck shit up pretty effectively. I feel like I understand the mechanics of 4th edition much more thoroughly now, so combat is faster and more fun. It’s a good time.

In addition to D&D, I’ve played a bit of Magic as well – two sealed deck tournaments and a bunch of casual play. The first of those tournaments was an utterly surreal experience for me as I hadn’t actually played competitively in over a decade and had forgotten what it’s like to be the only one with ladybits in a room full of teenage boys. It was a big, noisy affair set in a martial arts gym, of all places, so there was plenty of workout stink in addition to standard nerd stink. But I did have fun, and the other tournament I went to was smaller and much more manageable. It was held at Kinokuniya’s new location near Bryant Park, which I hadn’t even realized was there but have since enjoyed poking around on a couple of occasions. In any event, I think I’m officially sucked back in to Magic now, though I’m keeping my purchase of physical cards restricted to sealed deck events and perhaps the occasional fat pack. We’ll see how that goes.

I’ve also been hitting up a monthly boardgame night at Think Coffee, which I wish had been around when I was still an NYU student. Every time I’ve shown up there, they’ve been playing an album I already own (Tom Waits, Pulp, Oingo Boingo). Plus the drinks are great and there are plenty of tables for Dominion and Settlers of Catan and whatever else we end up playing.

And if all this gaming isn’t enough to confirm my status as an incredible fucking nerd, get ready: I also went to the New York Renaissance Faire about a month ago and the Medieval Festival at Cloisters last weekend. I had a great time at both, and both featured mead and turkey legs and lots of cleavage. I feel like I somehow missed dorking out on this stuff in high school, though I’m not sure how as I’m definitely the target market for it. But there’s no time like the present, and really who can object to honeywine and bad accents? I would say that the advantage to the former is that it’s a much more permanent setup and easier to navigate, with more places to buy booze. The Medieval Festival, on the other hand, is free and it’s in Manhattan. It’s hard to argue with either of those qualities. I’ll probably attend both again next fall.

Lastly, and certainly my biggest and most exciting bit of news, is that I’m now an aunt. My brother and his wife had a lovely baby girl named Simone this past week. She’s my first niece, and has claimed my title as baby of the family, which I don’t mind at all. After all, look at that face and that tiny little hand. I would pretty much give her anything she asked for and I’m sure I’m not the only one.