Ennies judge, part 2

Have you ever been a part of a book club?  Where you read a book, and then meet to discuss the book?  Maybe one book a month?  Or remember in college or high school when your entire class read a book, and then would discuss in class what you thought of the book and so forth?

Well, judging for the Ennies is not quite like that.

First, the scale is such that there is no way we could discuss every single submission in detail.  We received 366 submissions – most of which were books that arrived at my doorstep and probably made my mail carrier and UPS driver cry a lot.  There were a lot of e-submissions as well, which arrived in PDF format (searchable – yay!).  And then there were podcasts to download, websites to peruse, and the occasional piece of software.

Second, the judges for the Ennies do not meet like you would with a book club or a class.  I have yet to meet any of the others in person, for one thing.  For another, the vast majority of our year was spent in solitary efforts to read and form opinions about submissions.  It was punctuated with the occasional email with questions or comments.  But 95% of the effort involved is individual and self-motivated.

The Ennies organizers let the judges be – aside from answering the occasional question or helping with problems – to maintain the independence of the judges.  We had an agreed-upon deadline to provide our list of nominations to them, but they in no way stepped in to shape our opinions.

So what does all of this mean?  It means the vast majority of my judging duties was sitting in a quiet place, reading reading reading.  I would use my lunch hours at work to read.  I would read on the weekends.  Not every day, but in May and June pretty darn close to it. 

We kept a spreadsheet where each judge could note his or her personal candidates for nomination in each category.  I changed mine frequently, as I read more things.  I would revisit items another judge ranked highly but I hadn’t cared for particularly.  It was an ever shifting process.

Occasionally, I would have to remind myself that the Ennies were not about what my “favorite” products were, but what the “best” products were.  It didn’t happen too often, but there are still a couple of products that I loved that didn’t make the cut for other judges.  And that’s okay.

So … after lots of preparation and re-evaluation, the actual judging process went fairly smoothly.  It consisted of the judges in a Google Hangout, looking over the list of items each judge would put forward for nomination.  There were many products that overlapped between judges, and that made selection easy.  But once past those initial items, we would essentially debate amongst ourselves – very respectfully and politely I might add – what deserved to be nominated.  It took a few hours, and then after further consideration in the following days we changed two of the 100ish nominations.  It sounds simple because it was simple.  There were some categories where a judge or two would have very strong opinions, and then other judges had strong opinions in other categories.  It worked out because we were all prepared, we listened to each other, and we kept emotions out of it for the most part.

That in and of itself was a revelation to me.  I had been anxious about the judging process because I didn’t know the other judges (you can’t read tone into emails), and I didn’t know how being the only girl on the panel would go.  What I learned was that the judging process in and of itself was all about building consensus.  It was almost like a group of five people mediating themselves.  I will give you a (fake) example.  Say, judges 1-3 really liked Book Lasagna, but judges 4-5 really liked Book Enchiladas.  Well, perhaps the negotiated result of that conflict would be nominating Book Lasagna in this particular category, but recognizing that Book Enchiladas was also a quality product by putting it on the short list for nominee discussion in a different category that would be discussed a bit later.  It worked out rather well.

So after a few hours, we had a list of nominations.  We slept on it, and further refined a couple of nominations, but all in all we are very satisfied with our decisions. 

Ennies nominations will be announced July 13, after which I will give you some details to chew on (though not gossipy who-liked-what stuff – just my opinions or products I want to highlight).

Ennies judge, part 1

This year, I had the unique opportunity to judge for the Ennies.  What are the Ennies?  Well, short-version, they are awards to Role-Playing Game related products that are given annually at Gen Con. 

Anyone can run to be a judge, and judges are elected for one year by the same fans voting on the awards.  The judges’ job is then to read / view all entries and select the nominations for the Ennies.  Those nominations are then put to fan vote, which decides the winners.

So, long story short (too late), I have had over 300 books/websites/podcasts/etc to read and evaluate since Gen Con of last year.  The vast majority of submissions were received in April and May, so I’ve been a bit busy!

Though at times I felt overwhelmed by this process (and had the resultant whining to my friends), overall it has been very gratifying.  I wanted to share some things with you, and also document them for myself.

So why did I get involved in judging?

First, my main goal in this process was to learn more about Role Playing Games.  I play and enjoy them.  I like GMing.  But I don’t have a breadth of knowledge about the games available.  Most of my experience has been with systems that my friends know and enjoy playing.  And there is nothing wrong with that.  But I like to learn, and I wanted to educate myself about other systems and basically come to a more holistic understanding and appreciation for the industry.

Second, I really enjoy reading.  I wanted to see what inspired me about different worlds and settings.  I wanted to learn more about myself through discovering what I gravitated to.  I hoped to spark creative thinking within myself by taking this journey.

Third, I am a girl (duh) in a hobby that is male-dominated.  Now, I am not male-bashing.  But there are a couple of underlying issues here. 

One, the RPG community tends to be viewed by “outsiders” as a bunch of nerds without social skills being dorks together.  While some of that is true (I’m a nerd and a dork), there is more to the community – and role-playing – than awkward people trying to have a good time.  [Aside --The couple who introduced me to role-playing consist of a brilliant, beautiful woman and perhaps the most socially adept man I’ve ever known.  Hard to beat that for non-stereotypical.]   So, being a woman in this hobby, I was hoping that by being a female judge I could draw attention to some products that might be more female-friendly so to speak.  Did I succeed?  Who knows.  But it was a thought in my head.

Two, when I applied to be a judge candidate, there were zero other females who had done so.  None.  But about 15 guys had applied.  Now, a couple of other women applied before the end, but it really pushed my buttons at the time.  I had hesitated about applying, knowing how much work would be involved – and how seriously I take my commitments.  But this basically pushed me over the edge from “thinking about it” to “okay, do it.”   Does that mean I was the token girl on the judges panel?  Probably.  But I will take that and run with it.

So this documents why I decided to apply.  And low and behold, I got elected!  (And totally yelled “Holy Crap” in a restaurant full of people in Indianapolis when I found out.)

To be continued with a post about judging itself, and then eventually discussion of the nominees (which will be announced July 13).

Tyrion, oh my

I think Peter Dinklage is a very attractive man.     

The hard copy of this edition of Rolling Stone is sitting on my desk right now, looking at me.

          

Yes, he is a little person – which I believe/hope is the politically correct term. 

At first I wondered if this made me weird or something, but after discussing HBO’s Game of Thrones ad naseum in the office, I realized I am not alone.

Most women in fact find him very handsome.

He is happily married to a normal-sized woman, and they have a daughter.

(If I said I wasn’t jealous, I’d be lying.)

In pondering this ever-so-important topic, I thought of something I'd heard at least 10 if not 20 years ago.  IIRC, An Asian actress was discussing race in Hollywood, and she said "I am just waiting for there to be a male Asian sex symbol."  I believe it predated Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon's release -- which probably made whichever actress very happy.

So, having a little person viewed as a sex symbol by many Americans - does this mean something good about people having open minds?  

That would be a good thing.

Sleep FTW

You know how some people fall asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow?  I’ve never been one of those people.

It takes me a long time to fall asleep.  Often I read myself to sleep, occasionally falling asleep with the light on and a book in my hand.

But about a month ago, I had a light bulb moment.

I love my Kindle fire.  And it plays music.

I searched on Amazon, and found a few meditation tracks that I can play on my kindle and fall asleep to.  It’s incredibly helpful!

After buying a couple of “help falling asleep” individual tracks, I bought a full album.

If you have a full album of material, you can just hit play and nod off.  The Kindle enters sleep mode after a few minutes, so it’s not using a ton of electricity.  And when the album is done, it stops playing.

I also bought a “white noise” album – the kind of thing you’d hear at a spa.  My cats aren’t fond of the rain tracks, but it works well too.

Audio books could probably also be used in this way, though I think I’d get caught up in the story and not fall asleep.

One more win for the Kindle team!

Suddenly I'm Dr. Seuss

I have good days

and bad days,

sad days

and mad days.

But I am trying to be grateful for just having days.

My sister

I know not everyone is as fortunate as I am to have a good relationship with their siblings.  And no, it’s not like I fell out of the womb idolizing my sister.  That took at least until I was out of diapers.  I think.  It’s hard to remember.

But idolize my sister I do, and here are a few of the reasons why.

• Whenever there is a pet around, she narrates what it does in a goofy accent.  Typically cats are Russian (I think because of the Russian Blue we had growing up), and dogs are a hybrid between Goofy and fictional “hillbilly” voice.

 I believe I smell some milk.  Oh yes, there is definitely milk in this vicinity.  I wish I had hands to open the cabinet and get out a bowl, then get the milk and pour it in.  But I do not.  I believe I will attack this piece of fuzz to express my frustration!

I sure would like it if you threw the ball for me.  Could you please throw the ball for me?  It would be ever so much fun.  Or you could pet me if you like.  Or maybe I will just lay down here.  Hold on, let me walk in a circle first.  And another circle.  Okay, one more.  Alright, now I can lay down.

•  When I was little, when we were at McDonald’s, she would give me the pickles off her hamburger.  The day she started giving her pickles to her now-husband, I knew I was in trouble.  (Don’t make that dirty, people.)

• The summer after she graduated from high school, we had just moved to a different state.  Neither of us had any friends yet.  And despite our 8-year difference in ages, she let me follow her around, hang out by the pool, sleep in her room, and generally pester her until she left for college. 

• I love hearing her laugh.  On occasions of extreme laughter, she goes into this high pitched, hysterical laugh that I think dogs find annoying.  But I smile just thinking about it.

• She collects poorly translated items – usually toys -- from dollar stores.  Because they are funny.  My favorite is the Smart Board, which instructed you to “hold pen erectly” to write on it.

•  I credit a lot of my spectacular taste in music to her.  Which is not really much of a stretch, because it certainly wasn't my parents.  We survived road trips with Julio Iglesias and Neil Diamond. 

• She reads more than I do, and that’s saying something.

• She is a wonderful mother and has a meaningful, loving relationship with her husband.

So, she's practically perfect in every way.  Like Mary Poppins.  Except more awesome.  And I will stop bragging now.  :)

Florida!

So I spent a long weekend in Florida, and I thought I'd share it with you.  Hopefully in an amusing way,  not in a rubbing-your-face-in-my-vacation way.

Arrived on Friday.  Just in time for some lovely sunshine and a gorgeous sunset.

This was the beach.  Beautiful sugar sand and clear water.

Next on the schedule was drinking an adult beverage at the bar on the deck.

Lovely Drink!

Why is the rum always gone? :(

Sadly, Friday was the best weather of the weekend. But I wasn't going to let that stop me.  I am mesmerized by the ocean.  I was content to stare at it and think for hours on end - no exaggeration. 

It was overcast on Saturday, but I stayed out until the thunderstorms closed down the beach.

This view was from the restaurant we escaped to after the storms rolled in.

I discovered that I really like Shrimp & Grits, which (if you can't tell) is a very southern dish.  It's also one of those things that everyone seems to make slightly differently.  The version I had was sort of a shrimp & sausage stew on top of some cheesy grits.  

Yummy!  Going to have to figure out how to make a this without sausage.

Sunday was very sunny - but terrifically windy.  No umbrellas.  Like I cared.  I sat on my beach chair, ignoring the sand blowing around, chasing after my hat - and shoes - a couple of times.  And staring at the hypnotic waves.

One of the friends I made on Sunday.

So of course, on Monday, as we got ready to leave, the weather was perfect.  Still a bit windy, but gorgeous.

Perfect Monday.  Sigh.

I did not want to leave at all, but alas I have neither unlimited vacation days nor money, so I had to return home.  I hope to return again someday!