I still have the beard going, which I’m noticing more and more (and no, I don’t like it yet), but a good beard does not a Sikh make.  I’m quite uncomfortable with Sikhism and I really don’t know why.  I’m not as interested in it as I have been in other religions I have done, and there is a large social hurdle I have to cross, namely making contact with Sikhs.  This brings to light one of my flaws, namely I’m terrified of strangers and meeting new people, and thus would much prefer to just email these temples I’ve found around town rather than call them and talk to a complete unknown.  I know it doesn’t make any sense, but it’s me.  The only reason I cleared this last month was because the Baha’is took it upon themselves to spread word and they all got into contact with me over email, which is less terrifying.

I’m going to get over it, I have to get over it, or else there won’t be much to report this month.  Working full time really isn’t’ helping my situation, but again this is something that I can’t really fix right now.  I have no alternative means of income that wouldn’t similarly sap my time, and the job I do have often affords me enough free time that I can read and write during the day.  The fantasy is to be able to do this full time, and the compromise will probably be that I’ll be sticking it out and saving up my nickles and dimes so that come the end of the year I’ll have enough to take a month or two off to focus on pulling The Book together.  I might have to live off of ramen for a while but I would really, really like to do this all day, every day.

I also need to move come June, so that doesn’t really help either.

For those of you who weren’t following Kotaku’s run of articles on religion in video games, check ‘em all out here.  All in all it was okay, nothing really stellar, and they didn’t go as deep as I would have liked into the meat of the issue.  But since I feel kind of passionate about the subject matter I assume that was inevitable.  Still, zombies and Ouija boards?  Really?  Really?

Anyway, I’m working on something that will communicate my feelings on the matter, which you probably won’t see up here for a while since I really want to nail it.  We’ll see what comes of that, in fact I think I’ll work on it once I sign off here.

Which will be right about now.

Sat Sri Akal.

Waheguru.

This week Kotaku is covering religion in video games and I could not be more excited. Their first treatment of the subject isn’t terribly awe-inspiring, but I think it hints at ideas which have the potential to be delicious, much like a pie with a filling that you have not yet encountered.  I know that pie, as a constant, is sublime in its blissful effect, and yet I see this new combination of fruit and pastry and am given pause.  Will it be all that is true and dear to me of past pies?  Of fruit, sugar, pastry and whipped cream?  Will these things come together into something that is worth my time?

I hope that the answer is a resounding, “Oh God, yes.”

I am so excited by the prospect of discussing this topic that I’m having trouble finding the right words.  And this is saying something above and beyond my usual lethargy when it comes to bringing content here, because I have been trying to put these ideas into writing for a few months now.  Suffice it to say, I think that video games are a great medium for story-telling, art, and entertainment, and that while it is often difficult to convince people that religion is an important force in the world which merits our attention, I think it would require less rhetoric to convince people that it has an incredible canvass for myth, a rich context in which many entertaining and valuable stories can be told.

And if there is one thing I would like to see more of in video games, it’s better stories.