State of the Heart 3/09
So the Heart Attack happened in early September. Right before that I spoke at the Penny Arcade Expo. I did an hour GamerDad speech, moderated a panel, sat on another panel and improvised a Political Gaming speech when ECA Pres Hal Halpin had to bow out. After the heart attack on Sept 2nd. it was decided I’d have a quadruple bypass. Like NOW. I threw a clot around then – it ended up in my lungs – and was released in Mid-Sept. Then I did something crazy. I worked.
I worked a lot. It just so happened that the end of ’07 and all of ’08 were the busiest days of my career. No other period comes close. I helped WHATTHEYPLAY.com get off the ground and launched Ask GamerDad. I unsuccessfully negotiated the sale of the entire site – and me – to WhatTheyPlay but managed to come away victorious by selling off 1000 of our reviews. CrispyGamer.com also opened and I helped them out by doing several reviews, The Political Arena column and the GamerParenting column. In November a peice of staple broke and poked upward. This staple was in my sternum, so I had to go back for some sort of “wirecutter” surgery. The wire pain got worse and worse and I had my last surgery, to remove all the metal, in February, right before my son’s 5th birthday. Then in April I wrote a small booklet on Internet safety for the Entertainment Software Ratings Board and National PTA. I met with pres. Patrica Vance, and pres. Domme respectively. I appeared with them for a webinar in Chicago and answered questions Live from New York, on the Internet. Then what? More work, more columns, a “victory” lap at PAX (where I kept it simple and just did my GamerDad speech). My 10th wedding anniversary came next and then I spoke in front of the National Library Association’s convention in Chicago and later in the month another speech before the Mississippi Library Association. And then…
I rested.
That’s why I’ve been sporadic about GamerDad. I’m not making promises, I hope to keep posting like I did this week but, well, after a heart attack – I’m told – it’s hard to predict ones moods. Since I didn’t rest after the most far-reaching event of my life – I’m doing so up until now.
Here’s to climbing back into the swing of things. Wish me luck, stay loyal, and tell your friends about GamerDad.com
March 15th, 2009 at 9:55 pm
I tell everyone about this site. I check it daily. I love the stories and the reviews.
In other words, you are doing an amazing job, keep up the good work, but make sure to get your rest and stay healthy! Not only does your family need you healthy, but all the young gamers with clueless parents, and those clueless parents, need you.
PS: I think you got the years wrong in the beginning of the 2nd paragraph… 🙂
March 15th, 2009 at 10:07 pm
Fixed, thanks!