I recently had the pleasure of contributing a story to a very interesting, relatively new online mag, The Good Men Project Magazine. It’s a worthwhile site to bookmark if you enjoy thoughtful, sometimes provocative essays about society, sports, ethics…other manly topics. It was actually started by a small team (including founder Tom Matlack and NYT Magazine writer Benoit Denizet-Lewis) who were interested in creating a smarter alternative to the other men-oriented mag brands out there like Men’s Health, Maxim and others who traffic in endorsing a manly male personage that you might say doesn’t always appeal to the “sensitive guy.” Good Men (which donates a quarter of its profits to organizations that help at-risk boys) is less boobs, abs, UFC recaps, marinade recipes “guaranteed to close the deal,” and more about fatherhood, workplace quandries, sports and smart humor. Enlightened masculinity, if you will.
Anyways, my Good Men piece was about video games. I can’t believe it either, but it was fascinating to report and a lot of fun to write. I was one of those insufferable snobs who thinks there is little to zero redeeming value to playing video games. Spending hours in the dark, on the couch, eyes glazed, playing World of Warcraft seemed to be more of a symptom of social exile-dom than a worthy, productive pursuit in of itself. Not only is that wrong on many levels (and snotty of me) it’s also hypocritical in that I was a devout fan of action adventure games like Monkey Island (1, 2 and 3) and the LucasArts games like Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis growing up. Guess what…they’re online games, I loved ‘em and no doubt still would if I dared to download them today. The only thing stopping me- seriously- is the fear that I will become obsessed. Though if I decide to go ahead and take a stab at the Monkey Island screenplay (Zach Braff as Guybrush Threepwood…perfect right? My husband’s idea, I admit) it may the perfect excuse.
The story is called “Could the Next Warren Buffett be an Online Gamer?” and you can read it here.
Now for my update! Tomorrow I start a new gig as a television writer for Bloomberg TV. I’m tremendously excited- it’s a new medium at a new, very promising company that seems to have a lot of great people. A new challenge, and a new insanely crazy schedule. Updates to come- when relevant and interesting.
