give your inner dork a warm fuzzy

Attention all Gen Y'ers -- Back in the day, before there were any video games more sophisticated than Ms. Pac-Man or Asteroid or Donkey Kong, you had to use multi-sided dice and your imagination to play fantasy games.

I won't wax poetic about how much Gary Gygax's passing yesterday impacted me personally. I can recall playing Dungeons & Dragons only a handful of times in the 4th grade, being an annoying sister, allowed in my brother's room only because my parents made him, holed up on rainy afternoons, trying to convince him and his gathered friends that Charisma should always trump Strength and Dexterity. That should tell you right there it was never really my thing. Turns out, however, that most of the XY-people I tend to admire, respect and choose to surround myself with in my personal and professional life have D&D and Red Slurpee-thons in common. I have inherent dorkness in my character, so I am drawn to other kindred latchkey kids who had to entertain themselves with creativeness and flair and artificial red coloring in their beverages.

So, for all of you important people in my life, I present you with this D&D flow chart by Sam Potts from Wired/NY Times obituary of Gary Gygax. It is hilarious and insightful and an obvious labor of love for a time before Gen X'ers were hopelessly jaded and not embarrased to express genuine excitement for something. Embrace your inner dork.