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Letter to Ypsi Planning Commission re: Riverside neighborhood zoning
For context, Ypsilanti is in the process of a broad overhaul of its zoning ordinance, based on the new Shape Ypsi master plan. It’s long overdue–parts of the ordinance date back (as best as I can tell) to the late 1960s and early 1970s, with 40 years of cruft built on those aged foundations, making it… Continue reading
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Campaign notebook: What I borrowed for the NaGs
While the Not-a-Gnolls campaign idea was spun out of some pretty minimal excerpts of published setting material, I borrowed a lot in the course of running it: the “file off the serial numbers, change the names, and make it yours” school of GMing. Here’s what I remember, from flipping through my campaign binder: Immediately after the… Continue reading
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Diapering: earth destroyer, or crazy hippie?
Overall, our parenting is somewhere in the range of a 7 on the crappy crunchy scale, with some dips into the 2 range. (Yep, I’ll wait….okay, back now?) Diapers are one of the both-ends-of-the-scale things. Our primary diaper is the cloth/synthetic BumGenius FreeTime All-in-One, which, yes, costs $20 per diaper. At night, though, we go Huggies Overnights disposables.… Continue reading
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Campaign notebook: the origins of the Not-a-Gnolls
For about the two years before parenting started, my major D&D game (used in the generic sense for a game using Pathfinder, in this case) was the “Not-a-Gnolls”, a band thrown together by circumstance to restore the minor god Nobanion. The ultimate session was a somewhat rushed climax which, as a result, didn’t work terribly well… Continue reading
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“Do what’s right for your baby/family”…even if it’s conventional
It’s not common in parenting circles to brag about formula-feeding, disposable diapers, and sleep training, but: yep, we do those things (at least in part). And, hopefully I can save some new parents out there a lot of grief by assuring: yep, it’s totally okay for you to do them too, if that’s what works… Continue reading
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A line in the stats: gerrymandered crime reporting
This weekend, the Ann Arbor News offered a look “behind the numbers” at crime stats in the Ypsilanti area. Their findings: crime is higher than state and national averages in the City of Ypsilanti, near or below averages in Superior Township and Ypsilanti Township. Unfortunately, the story spends a lot of ink on the numbers… Continue reading
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Ypsi as the value stock of Michigan?
It was recently suggested to me that my beloved Ypsilanti was “the most under-performing city in the state.” Hyperbole aside, they had a fair assessment: You’ve got everything you’re supposed to have: two great little downtowns, historic neighborhoods, the river and the parks along it and the festivals, you’re a college town, and you’re right… Continue reading
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Dipping a pinky toe into writing for RPGs
While I’ve been playing D&D and the like for about 25 years(!), I don’t think I’ve ever got to the point of publishing any materials. This past winter, I made a first, very small step in that direction, submitting an entry to the open call round of Paizo’s RPG Superstar competition. Entering had been a… Continue reading
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Hello, yet again, world.
Oh look, I’ve rebooted this blog once more, migrating from an 8 year old Drupal install to WordPress and moving it to the main page in the process. I might get around to importing the old posts, but in the meantime they’re conveniently linked in the sidebar. Expect this space to include the traditional fare… Continue reading
About Me
Michigander, parent of twins, urban planner, role-playing game nerd.
Common Monkeyflower 