Daniel J Isom

Back at the end of 2018, I had the crazy idea of culling our collection down to just 54 games. Since that time, I've determined that I'm not quite ready to make the hard cuts it will take to get that low. Part of it is that it's not just my collection. There are games Christine really enjoys that I wouldn't think to get rid of unless she loses interest in them. Another part of it is that I do enjoy trying new types of games or the games by my favorite designers. Unless Christine or I absolutely hate a game, it tends to stick around for a while and inflate the overall total. I know that I could be more stringent with how I deal with what stays and what goes, but it's not like I'm hurting for space or anything. Currently our shelves are pretty full, so I'm using their capacity to keep my acquisitions in check. There are loopholes I could use to get more games, like stacking games on top of the shelves (yes, I know I did that in the picture) or buying sm

In my ongoing effort to embrace minimalism and live a more intentional life, I'm always on the lookout for ways to simplify my life. This post is about decluttering my digital life, not changing habits when it comes to technology (that'll be a future post). Speaking of technology, its explosion pushed everyone into a new space and my generation was on the forefront of that unstoppable wave. Now, we all have two lives that we're living in and while they are very much entwined, they have to be handled in very different ways. First, there is our physical life where we accumulate all sorts of belongings that fill our living and work spaces. The limitation of space to hold all of those items keeps us mostly in check. Even if you're a hoarder that pushes the extremes of your limitation, decluttering to free up space isn't hard from a logistical standpoint. There are emotional and mental barriers that make getting rid of certain possessions difficult, but the act of

It's very rare that I buy a game AFTER playing it. It's even more rare that I buy a game that has never been on my wishlist. Most of the games I get are either gifts or games I've done a bunch of research on before trading for or buying them. That all changed after this past weekend. I received a text from my friend Shawn asking if I want a copy of KLASK because it was on clearance at Target. I knew the game, but didn't think I NEEDED it so I passed. The next day we went over to play games with him and Kelly and I fell in love with the game immediately. Christine said "you should have gotten one", which means we definitely need to add it to the collection. Before I finish the story, let me explain what KLASK is all about. There is an elevated game board that looks like a soccer field with circular goals, a small yellow ball, two gaming pieces that are controlled by magnets under the board, and three little "white biscuits" that are magnetic. The

I haven't done a top 10 list in a while, so I was thinking of doing one for my favorite potato chip flavors. I started making a list and quickly realized that most of the list was made up of very popular flavors. Just ranking them didn't seem that exciting to me. Most top 10 lists suffer from this problem, but I guess I'm more passionate about those things than I am potato chips. I could have added brands, but that seemed like way too much work. Instead, I want to take a moment to recognize my single favorite kind of potato chips. It's been sitting at the top spot for a few years now and nothing has come remotely closed to challenging it. Before I go any further, I want to make it very clear that I'm only talking about POTATO chips. I'm not comparing my favorite potato chip to tortilla based snacks like Doritos or fried corn snacks like Funyuns or Cheetos. This is strictly potato based, not just anything you might find in the chip aisle at the grocery store.

The first month of the year is over! A lot of people said this month took forever to end, but I think it flew by. I'm riding high on the success I had across the three things I wanted to accomplish this month. I'm hoping to carry this energy through into the shortest month of the year (not that short though because it is a leap year). 1)  Write at least 2 blog posts each month I knocked this one out on the very first day of the month with  My New Decade's Resolutions  and a  2019 Unplayed Games Recap . Aside from doing "resolutions" for this year, I decided the start of a new decade would be a perfect time to set some resolutions for the next decade. Check out that post to see what I want have done by 2030. For the second year in a row, I wrote about all of the unplayed games I got to the table during the year. There were quite a few that left my collection or will be leaving soon, but a bunch that will be staying as well. I kept it going by introducing  S