Well, this sucks.

Long day at work. Punishing workout after. Then I fell on an ice embankment on the way home. Bashed up my elbow, wrenched my back, and twisted my wrist. I think the endorphins from the workout are helping to kill the pain. Anyway, that's not what I'm mumbling about tonight.

This is about another old man. Slightly older. Grizzled, and by all accounts, ornery.
Gary Gygax, crawler of imaginary dungeons, wielder of Platonic solids, is dead at age 69.

I hadn't even reached my teens when I inherited my brother's 1st edition Dungeons & Dragons set. I think I memorized the Player's Handbook. Until 3rd edition came along, I could still be counted on to tell you what a given material component was. God, treasure type. Remember treasure type? Or what it takes to get to the centre of a prismatic sphere? (hey, no cheating -- I see that rod) Loads of great memories with friends, and I think that's how it was for countless groups of kids out there. And of course a whole industry -- several, actually -- sprang up in response. Yeah, it wasn't always great, and there were always new versions of the idea being put out there, but there was something amazing about being able to meet up with a few friends in a coffee shop and have someone say "Wanna roll up characters?" and 20 minutes later you're off and running. And the moments that were great, well, they were fantastic, in every sense of the word.

Thanks for the memories, old man.