Storytime with GamerDude

GamerDude discovered a new phrase this week: "fossil word." That's an old or ancient word that we no longer use in its original context, but still use as part of a phrase we continue to say today. "Bumper crop" is a prime example because the "bumper" from that phrase used to mean a large drinking vessel, filled to the brim. That use of the word "bumper" has essentially disappeared, except in the c...

GamerDude has made no secret of his love for the beach. This week, he talks about having to learn to entertain himself spending long days on the beach as a child, and how he came to love everything from the sand between his toes to crashing through the waves. He talks about building sand castles, and learning to crash the waves, and learning how to body surf. He talks about how he loves a beach wi...

GamerDude has years of experience in planning and taking vacations.  This week, instead of talking about any specific vacation location, he's put together some advice on how to plan and take a good vacation.  He talks about what goes into planning a good vacation and, while some points may seem obvious, not everyone actually does the things that GamerDude suggests. He talks about knowing where you...

Gamerdude has always loved music, and this week, he talks about where his love for the acoustic guitar came from. He talks about sitting around and singing old folk songs, and kids' songs, with his family growing up, and shares some of those classics, like "Go Tell Aunt Rhody" and "She'll Be Coming 'Round The Mountain." He also talks about how he learned that guitar playing was more than just "str...

GamerDude remembers some of the odd, weird, and unique inventions that came about while he was growing up.  He talks about the original Pet Rock, and how, thanks to technology, you can now get a USB Pet Rock. He talks about how the change from VHS to DVD inspired someone to create the "DVD Rewinder."  He also talks about inventions like Big Mouth Billy Bass, the Snuggie, and the egg cuber. He also...

While watching the Loki series on Disney+, GamerDude started thinking about movie franchises, and how Marvel has created such a huge universe in which it could create its stories. That got him to wondering about how many movie franchises there actually are, and have been, in Hollywood over the years. As he started digging into the topic, he discovered that there are far more movie franchises than ...

GamerDude has always believed in God because of the way he was brought up, but his view of God (or whatever name you have for the Divine Power) has evolved and changed over the years.  He talks about how he was brought up to undertand that "God Is Love," and how that didn't necessarily jibe with all of the horrible things that actually happen in the world. He talks about how his early understadnin...

GamerDude returns to one of his favorite topics: food! This week, he talks about salad bars and buffet restaurants, both how they used to be, and how COVID may result in their disappearance because of the way people have been treating them. He talks about the steakhouse buffets he first discovered at places like Ponderosa, Sizzler and Bonanza, and describes the huge salad bars you used to find the...

This week, GamerDude continues the discussion from his Twitch stream about what constitutes a sandwich. He talks about the variety of different sandwiches he brought to school when he was a kid, from liverwurst to PB&J. He talks about the "fluffernutter" sandwiches he never had, but always heard about, as a kid. He also remembers when he "discovered" the classic submarine sandwich (or hoagie, or g...

This week's episode features a variety of stories GamerDude has already recorded for previous episodes but, for one reason or another, were edited out of the final cut. Sometimes the edits were based on time constraints, while others were thematic decisions. But the stories themselves are nevertheless ones that GamerDude wanted to share. So, this week, he compiled several of those "edited out" sto...

GamerDude has previously talked about products and things that he grew up with that are now out-dated or obsolete, and this week, he adds to that list.  He talks about how simple little things like the telephone busy signal, and television static, which were just a "fact of life" when he was a kid, just don't exist anymore. He talks about spending sick days in front of the TV, enjoying a buffet of...

When GamerDude was growing up, his parents taught him the value of saving things, and using things until the no longer worked. He talks about how his dad would buy used fans and vacuum cleaners at auctions and garage sales, because you never knew when you might need one. He talks about his dad's tools and hardware, and his back-up tools and hardware. He talks about how his mother saved everything,...

In another "Best Of Storytime" episode, GamerDude has pulled some stories from Season One.  He talks about being a fidgety kid, and some of the "momisms" that generated. He talks about how watching movies on TV was the only way to catch a movie before the days of VCRs, DVDs, and streaming services.  He talks about how he loved the stories Jean Shepard told on the radio, and how he looked forward t...

With the release of the re-mastered Mass Effect: Legendary Edition, GamerDude got to thinking about his favorite games and game genres over the years. He talks about how he first loved simulation games, like Sid Meier's Railroad Tycoon, and Ports of Call, and the original Sim City.  He talks about how much fun he had planning railroads, and shipping cargo, and designing cities back when these type...

With graduation season upon us, and with so many people trying to figure out what to do with their lives, GamerDude remembers back to when he graduated from Bowling Green State University. Like so many people, he wasn't sure what to do after he graduated, or where to go, or how to get there. He talks about spending a year in graduate school, and "trying on" a job that involved working on campus an...

As GamerDude has talked about in the past, he's a huge fan of trivia, and a lot of the little nuggets of knowledge he's learned over the years have been stuck in his head since childhood. This week, he shares some of that trivia. He talks about how John Tyler, the 10th President of the United States, still has a living grandson. He talks about how Marilyn Monroe and Queen Elizabeth II of England w...

As an "old dude," GamerDude has seen a lot of things come and go in his life. This week, he talks about more of the things that were fixtures in his life that have either disappeared, or seem destined to do so.  He talks about how important the Sunday newspaper was when he was growing up, and how much of a ritual it was to enjoy the Sunday paper each week.  He talks about fax machines, and the old...

GamerDude has another batch of TV tropes and themes to share this week.  If you've ever noticed that the main character of a TV show is put in a life-threatening situation that you know they're going to survive, or if you see someone has to baby-sit an egg, or if it seems odd that people in TV shows never seem to be aware of what actually happens on TV, then the tropes this week are for you. And i...

As an old dude, GamerDude has learned a lot of things about life over the years. He  wonders whether he would have taken "life advice" from his dad from his dad when he was growing up, if his dad had been the kind of guy to give it. He talks about how easy it is to live in the moment when you're in your 20s, and how it's not unusual to be short-sighted about the future.  He also talks about how we...

When GamerDude heard someone refer to "the late 1900s," he started thinking about some things from the last century that he grew up with and that were a part of everyday life, but that we either no longer use, no longer exist, or that we only see on TV or in antique shops. He remembers his mom's old sewing machine, and how she made clothes at home, with patterns and cloth she would buy at the "fiv...

GamerDude learned about home improvement at an early age. He talks about how his dad just "magically" got things done, from patching screens to changing light switches. He also learned that there are some projects that you don't do yourself, and he talks about the attic fan and the addition to the house his parents had done. He also talks about the necessity of having to learn to do things himself...

GamerDude has always loved music, and talks about being in band for years, and teaching himself three chords on the guitar. He then shifts gears and talks about the music he grew up with, and how there were very distinct genres of music, like Rock, and Adult Contemporary, and Easy Listening, and Classical, with bright lines between the genres. He discusses how those genres have changed over the ye...

In this "Best of" episode, GamerDude goes back to Season 1 and remasters some of the earliest stories he told from the first four episodes.  First, he talks about radio being the "theater of the mind" and how interesting and entertaining it is to let your imagination create the world you're listening to. This is also where we first "meet" Mister Agador.  Next, he tells the story about telephones b...

Long-time listeners know about GamerDude's love for television. He grew up watching TV, and still enjoys watching it today. This week, he talks about how our TV viewing experience used to be, and how it has changed, from dials and knobs on big wooden boxes with picture tubes in them, to smart phones with 5 inch screens. He talks about growing up as his dad's remote control, because there were no r...

When he was a kid, GamerDude's family vacations often consisted of non-kid-centric travel to places like Fort Ticonderoga, Colonial Williamsburg, and Washington D.C. (That's all before GamerDad discovered the value of sitting on a beach for two weeks!) But those early trips to places his mom found interesting and educational left GamerDude with the interest and desire to travel to and explore new...