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It all started with my friend Steve... I was camping out at his apartment while I was flying back and forth from Chicago to Boston before we got our house... and Steve always had the fridge stocked with sparkling water... maybe it was club soda... anyhow... it all started there... and now I am obsessed.

I am drinking A LOT of sparking water people... A LOT... so much so that I am contemplating one of those do-it-yourself soda machines... I won't go that far... but I toy with it... Maureen thinks we need one to reduce the new carbon footprint I am creating with all my fizzy water drinking. :)

The crazy part is that my beer consumption is WAY down... we are talking almost non-existent. I have had the same six pack in my fridge for about two weeks. There is just something refreshing about sparkling water on a warm summer evening. Even in restaurants now I will often get sparkling water with lime over beer.

Poland Springs Lime is my fav... but I keep a couple twelve packs of seltzer cans around for the weekends when the frequency of consumption is higher. I can't buy it in 2 liter bottles or anything because it goes flat too fast... the smaller the cans the better. Oh and the more bubbly the better. Pelegrino is good in a pinch, but not enough gas in that one.

For a special treat, lots of fresh cut limes... in fact I am making myself want another glass right now!

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The vision of what we are trying to build at GamerDNA has always been to create a site where gamers could showcase who they are... what games they played... and what is important to them. This serves as a "gamer resume" of sorts... and with our new quizzing system... we are getting closer to one facet of that vision... the part that allows you to showcase who you are and what is important.

There are a few quizzes up there. Each quiz asks you a series of questions about gaming... you answer... each answer puts you in a general identity bucket, but also is measured on behavioral traits. At the end of all the quizzes, you get a dynamically generated image of who you are:

So that is me... I am an achiever... meaning I play games to progress through them... I prefer physical games... like Rock band... I am competitive in my achieving (which is why I prefer co-op to verses because I don't like losing to people)... I am reward driven... meaning I like the Xbox achievement system... I am less thoughtful... because I choose to brute-force the situation in games... and I am less specialized in that I try lots of different races/classes/weapons... I am also somewhat organized as I do prefer to play on teams and coordinate.

So there it is... Trapper Markelz as a gamer... thanks to GamerDNA. If you are a gamer, try out the quizzes and see what you uncover about yourself.

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Everyone is doing it!

Get your own face as Manga

My choices:

1. The green background to envoke GamerDNA.com
2. The blazer and shirt because that is what I wear at work most days
3. Brown hair, blue eyes.. because that is me.

If you are wondering what is this "Manga" thing, Wikipedia always saves.

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...A SHARK!
Originally uploaded by Markelz Family

We did a ton of kid things this weekend... I guess you could say Maureen and I are doing kid things all the time... but this was extra kid-ish.

First off on Sat we went to the Boston Aquarium with Steve and Tammy. I keep forgetting that Steve and I live in the same city these days... sure we see each other at work every day... which is amazing enough... but we always forget that if we want, we can actually hang out while NOT working on GamerDNA or 360voice. :) So we gave that a try... and there were sharks involved.

On Sunday morning, we drove up to The Children's Discovery Museum in Acton, MA with Russell and Christina and their son Aaron. They have some photos of it over at their Flickr site too... so go check it. I was really impressed with the museum. It was tons of fun for the kids (and the adults) and at 9am on a Sunday morning, we had the place to ourselves for most of the time... which was just great. A definite repeat when Grandmas are in town.

All in all, a nice relaxing weekend. I even got some major coding in on 360voice... a big feature I have always been meaning to launch and armed with a Venti Starbucks Ice Coffee I built most of it in about 6 hours... a few more hours here and there this week and it should be ready for launch. The thing is, by now the site has so much code that launching something is as easy as taking all the pieces from other places... challenges... blogs... profile pages... and just recombining it... so it isn't a ton of coding, just re-architecting and re-factoring what is already there. It felt good to just drop some code though... with my busy schedule it is hard to find the dedicated time to do that these days.

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02
Originally uploaded by Markelz Family

Today is Maureen and I's 6th wedding anniversary. About this time six years ago (as I write this) all the guys were coming over to Kevin's house to spin some records, drink some coffee, and get dressed for the ceremony.

It is fun to think about how far we have come... it is strange to think that Lucy and Hannah, the most important people in our lives right now, we didn't even know!

We lived in a cute two bedroom apartment in Lincoln Square... I was working for Spencer Stuart as a Webmaster... I was playing PlanetSide (video game) a lot... and going to LAN parties... Never did I think I would be working for a game community start -up in Boston... never. :)

This morning we watched our wedding video that was collectively shot by the groomsman. There are a lot of faces on that video... people we have fallen out of touch with... and ever day we are away from Chicago, we fall out of touch of more people... even in this connected day and age it is hard to keep the bandwidth up.

I do really need to capture our first dance off that video though... I still think it is one of the best swing-dances that Maureen and I have ever done... and one of my favorites... it came at the pinnacle of our dancing together and the pace of it and selection of moves really shows where we were at with our dancing... we were comfortable... we had fun with it... it makes me smile.

Six years seems like a small number... when I really think about it... but it is practically a lifetime... it is the same thing when I think about Lucy only be ONE year old... just a year! And yet it feels like she has been around forever... same with Hannah... only THREE years... but still seeming like she has always been there... To even think about a time where I didn't know and love Maureen seems absolutely foreign to me... like a dream... some alternate reality...

So Cheers to six years. We are headed out to Lumiere tonight... our second "foodie" Boston experience... the first was Tryst. Maureen's uncle and cousin are coming in to town today and are babysitting!

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Action Shot
Originally uploaded by Markelz Family

Last weekend, Maureen and I took the family to Maine for a Flybridge Capital Partners summer gathering called Catch the Wave. It was a family friendly time with cocktail parties, beach fun, and a costume party. Maureen and I went as Johnny Cash and June Carter-Cash.

Maine is a beautiful place. The houses are gorgeous, the ocean is beautiful... the food is great. This is pretty typical of everywhere we go in New England... which is one of the reasons we are loving it so much.

The whole Flybridge weekend was great though... got to talk a little business... meet some new people... have some fun. We had a babysitter for the costume party night so it was a rare opportunity for Maureen and I to get a little crazy and have a good time. You know when you end the night in conversation with a cigar smoking cross dressing Pamela Anderson, and ripping up the dance floor with the Village People, that it is a complete experience.

In general, there were many moments of standing on the beach, looking out at the waves and water and thinking, "Wow... life could be worse." There was a particularly nice and quiet moment when Hannah and I were down at the beach early in the morning... I was sitting there on the rocks and she was running around on the beach, and things just seemed perfect.

I can't say that such serenity pervades every moment of our busy life, but we do seem to find those moments a lot here in Boston. I think the pace of New England just creates them.

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Rock Thrower
Originally uploaded by Markelz Family

This last weekend we headed up to Salem and Marblehead. For some reason the weekend screams "Ocean" so we are taking full advantage of that. We didn't really stop in Salem because the kids were sleeping... but we drove around and saw a few sites.

Marblehead was great... awesome salty sea air... and although we got caught in a serious rain storm, it was a nice day of exploration.

I forgot how serene it is to stroll along a beach and look at the rocks... it was a hobby of mine growing up... probably a hobby of lots of children... running around trying to find the most unique rocks on the beach. I always dream of coming across a big chunk of jade or a geode. I never really find anything, but it is easy to just be out there enjoying the fresh air... and with Hannah just as interested, we make a good team.

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The Family Markelz
Originally uploaded by Markelz Family

It continues to be a bit of a whirlwind around the Boston Markelz household. Last weekend we were in Texas for Maureen's brother Kevin's wedding. Hannah was the flower girl and she had an amazing time.

In fact my brother Andy called last night and he wants Hannah to be the flower girl in his wedding in October! A flower girl twice in one year! Hannah is so spoiled.

On the work front we keep plowing away at the super long list of things that have to happen immediately. It isn't so much prioritization as triage... think about working in an emergency room of a hospital where everyone is bleeding out... how do you pick who to save? You really don't... you start with what is closest to you and work towards the back of the room... sometimes someone will come up and say "Hey that person over there is the president's daughter" so you drop what you are doing and go help her out... and the poor sap you were working on dies... but you can't save them all.

Where was I going with that? :) Anyways, I continue to be challenged every day... and I love it, but I can confirm that most of the stereotypes of working in a start up are true. It isn't easy work and not for the faint of heart or head... or people that require lots of sleep.

As far as gaming while working in the game industry, I am still trying to get some time in, and have taken to using my GamerDNA Profile as the place where I blog my gaming (since that is what it is for!).

On the family front, Lucy is almost 100% walking these days... she still isn't completely solid with it... contributing to some pretty awesome (and hilarious) wipe outs. Hannah is in full-on repeat everything you are talking about mode... The other day her question was "Daddy, what is bird crap?" Or this morning Maureen and I were talking about going to a sprinkler park and said "I am sure it will be full today" and Hannah heard that as "Cereal will be folded" and she laughed for a good while about the absurdity of trying to fold cereal.

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Fisherman's Memorial
Originally uploaded by Markelz Family

The 4th of July was a great weekend. Despite the frantic pace at work, I managed to close that part of my world off from my mind... and simply enjoy hanging out and absorbing this new region of the US we are living in. We spent a lot of time just hanging out and enjoying being a family. First with my sister Katie and Benjamin, and second with ourselves... Lucy even let us sleep in until 6:30am one morning which was pure heaven! :)

The neat part about being in New England is being able to jump in your car and be in a completely different town in under 40 minutes. 40 minutes in Chicago would get you to an express way... but here, you can honestly be in a completely different world.

Around noon on Saturday we cracked open the map book and said, "Let's go to Gloucester..." Why? Because it was there... and I wanted to take in a fishing town vibe... sometimes you just get in one of those moods. The town was as we expected... small... quiet... a great beach front with plenty of room to walk and take in the ocean breeze.

We had lunch at a little restaurant over looking a harbor, not unlike those you find back in Homer, Alaska... and finished the trip at a road-side ice cream stand. I had a scoop of Maine Wild Blueberry.

It was one of those days where you are laying on the couch at 9pm, dozing off, and can't help but recognize your good fortunes.

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Yeah, I'm That Cute
Originally uploaded by Markelz Family

If you didn't know... we rarely call Lucy by her real name... she has been forever branded "The Goose" and will probably be called that all through high school... even when I know she will be hating it... or who knows... maybe she will be some all star sports athlete where nicknames are considered way awesome.

Today is her birthday... she is officially one year old... which is just CRAZY to think that it has only been one year... it seems like she has been brightening our days forever.

She is a few weeks away from walking at this point... although cuter than that is how she walks around upright on her knees... half-walking... and when she does it, she giggles and laughs the whole way.

It is interesting to see how much faster she progresses when she has a big sister around to help her out... Her and Hannah are playing together now... they pretend play... they wrestle... they chase each other... although Daddy still does most of the chasing and tickling.

I will say though, my favorite routine is giving the Goose her bottle at night... we sit in the rocking chair... she drinks and looks up at me... and as she drinks her eyes get heavier and heavier... until she passes out... her arms go limp... and the bottle slips from her grasp. There is such peace in watching her fall asleep every night.. It is one of my favorite moments...

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