Like many other late 20/early 30's peeps, I did not yet have a solid sense of human mortality when I heard the terrible news.  Kevin K Griffith, a friend, coworker, and fellow artist who was barely older than me was diagnosed with a rare and devastating form of cancer.  It seemed almost improbable for someone who was so fit, happy, and full-of-life to suddenly be facing death.  I read his and his wife's optimistic, touching, funny, and heart-breaking journals as they navigated through physical pains, emotional hurdles, medical procedures, and crazy insurance roadblocks.  I put logic aside and believed that somehow things still might work out

"So... how did you decide you wanted to get into the game industry?" More than once have I faced this question.  I usually smile and say or type something like: "Oh, it's only natural.  I've always liked games.  I grew up playing games, attempted to design several board games, and even got a group of high school friends at lunch to play a game so broken that everybody died within a few turns."  These are all true, except for the "only natural" part.  I had spent several long years attempting to be "practical", suppressing my fantasy of becoming a manga artist of sorts each time it dared to bubble up.  The decision to give game industry a try

I vaguely remember feeling scared about how old I was getting when I was about 23.  At that time, I was close to graduating as a graphic design major and had admitted my failure after trying very hard to convince myself that I liked it.  I was at a loss of what to do next, a state of mind I did not and still do not deal well with.  I was entirely frustrated, and felt unprepared to join the ranks of other "grown-ups" who are in the ripe age of 20s. Seven years later, I can only look back in amazement at how everything ended up working out for the most part.  I had so much fear and so much desire.  I carried a chip on my shoulder so large that