1) The Incredible Hulk Movie: As those who know me are aware, I love the big Green guy. He’s one of my all-time favorite super-heroes (and I loves me some Super-Heroes), and so I am totally jazzed about this movie coming out. I’ve already been obsessively scouring the internet watching all the advance clips and trailers I can (many of them more than once), and I’ve been to Target and bought all the Hulk-related merchandise I think my wife will let me get away with.

Will the movie suck? Honestly, I don’t know. I think the fanboy discussion forums are already full of postulations and theories on this issue. Do I really care? Nope. I’m going to be in the line on opening night to see it, dragging my wife along with me, and I will happily pay my nine bucks to watch ol’ Jade drawers beat the crap out of… anything that gets in his way.

‘Nuff Said!

2) 4th Edition Dungeons and Dragons: I’m an old school nerd. Table-top Role-Playing Games is still for me a great time. Although kids these days (and I feel SO VERY OLD saying it like that) prefer to have their rules doled out in computer simulated rules engines. I still enjoy dice and maps and pre-painted miniature figures to live out my fantasy life as a wizard, warrior, dwarf or what-have-you.

There’s only one problem: My regular gaming group is back in Colorado, with all the remnants of my old life. I haven’t gotten the balls to start a in-the-flesh gaming group here yet. Part of me wants to brave the unwashed denizens of the comic shop in Provo, but I wither under their date-less stares, being self-demoted to part-time RPG hobbyist.

But that hasn’t stopped me from pre-ordering the core books on Amazon.com to be delivered to my doorstep early next week. It hasn’t prevented me from creating my very own campaign world, complete with centuries-old histories, complex religions and secret societies. And it hasn’t stopped me from boring my poor wife to tears with the details of it all.

Even though I wish I could co-erce my teenage nephews into experimenting with some good old P-n-P gaming, I am resigned to the fact that, for now at least, my D&D fantasies will have to be resigned to that of internal daydreams.