Shenbot Makes

Fair Use is an interesting thing. I've been sharing little snippets of my 90s Video Game coloring book and got my first side-eye comment that it's obviously (it is) a coloring page from a screenshot of a video game. I was doing some digging on the web and found a really good article written by Northwestern University on the subject ( link ). Specifically they put together a coloring book (how serendipitous!) of work in their art collection. Columbia also has a good page on just explaining these four categories to consider ( link ). I decided to fill it out in the same way for what I'm doing with this 90s Video Game coloring book. 1. The Purpose and Character of the Use The coloring book is designed to celebrate and used as a teaching tool that showcases influential and relevant video games from the 1990s. The work itself is also transformed as the utility of the original work has changed substantially (i.e. a coloring page will not be confused with a video game nor be confu

In addition to cranking out 10 or so Quests Over Coffee cards, my brain has been cranking on starting a non-profit. I've gone through this phase a number of times in the last few years, but it seems like there's nothing stopping me from actually putting the nose to the grindstone to make some progress in it. What used to be one about getting new board games and card games into the hands of the needy has turned into something that takes a sprinkling of my "toy store" idea and wanting to help those in need. I think I may have talked about this already yesterday, but my days are quite full and I'm forgetting. On a personal note, I successfully brined and cooked a turkey yesterday. I may never not brine a turkey again. That was the best tasting turkey I've ever made and it the most non-dry turkey I've ever made. Thank goodness for that probe thermometer! What a joy to use. Pim Pam is doing well. It's over $400. Looking forward to getting that in the han

It was a bittersweet moment yesterday when I said goodbye to many coworkers that I respect and care about. We were in the trenches of fintech for the last two years and we really built some strong bonds. Hoping all the best for them. The Kickstarter campaign continues to do pretty well and I'm excited for the final outcome! It's in the "middle of the campaign" lull, so I'm hoping to see more uptick in a week or so when it gets closer to finishing up. Been busy putting together the other parts of it and getting into the nitty gritty of financials and COGS around it. Totally forgot I needed to pick up some shipping boxes for them and game labels for the mint tins. I have the bones of the "Back of the Box" coloring book in place. I just need to get the prototype book so I can take some photos before kicking off the promotional "notify me" campaign. Deciding to launch it in January so people aren't overwhelmed before the holidays or by my ins

It's my last day at work. It's bittersweet. I'll miss many of the people I worked with. We really delivered and shipped some amazing things. I'm not going to miss checking my phone at all hours for messages, feeling the need to get online at 6:00a to help put out a fire, or bringing my computer on vacation. They'll be fine. They already have the job rec for my backfill out in the wild (the body's not even cold yet!). I know hiring is difficult and can take months end-to-end, so no ill feelings! I've been so hyperfocused on the new projects as of late that I just need to shift gears and get back in the Quests Over Coffee world again. The December theme should be fun to put together! I put together a digital demo of Pim Pam so people could get a feel for the gameplay (minus the Wild card) to see if its speed/quickness is for them. Hopefully it allows folks to make an informed decision! You can try it here: https://alexandershen.itch.io/pim-pam-demo

I also created a digital demo so folks can try out the mechanic: https://alexandershen.itch.io/pim-pam-demo Looking forward to my last day tomorrow.

The Kickstarter is live! It's been live for a few hours now and it is doing ok! The goal is pretty low ($100). Just wanted to get it out there. Here's to hoping a few extra bucks for the holidays. I'm also working on a digital version so folks can try the mechanic on their own.