WEBVTT

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That was beautiful, Thomas.

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Thank you.

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So the good news is I did
print out the second page.

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So I don't need to use my
computer for this introduction.

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But I just wanted to say just
a word about the broadsides.

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The reason that I do broadsides,
I'm not exactly sure,

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to be honest.

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Teaching is a kind of devotion
to someone else's work.

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Teaching of creative
writing anyway.

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A lot of my time is taken up
by reading work and trying

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to understand its best
impulses, or its most

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audacious or beautiful ideas.

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And how to help the writer
find their way to what I see,

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them see in the work itself.

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And there's something.

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I was hand-numbering
these last time.

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Last night I was at my
kitchen table doing this

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and it takes a long time
to hand number them.

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But I was thinking
to myself how much

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I like this act of making a
physical thing for a writer,

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whose work that I love.

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And I love both of your
work a great deal tonight.

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There's a devotion in that
too, that feels different.

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I'm not trying to
help the writer find

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their way to something,
I'm just trying

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to find a way of presenting
it that brings something out

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that I see in the work.

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So these are here
offered to you tonight.

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And I hope you grab one
and find them pleasing.

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And here, back to
the monster manual.

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I present to you Josh Riedel,
a giant of literature.

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In this case, obviously, a
cloud giant of literature.

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Unlike the commoner
sorts of giants,

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cloud giants usually reside
in crude castles built

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atop mountains, or
on magical cloud

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islands in Northern California,
or in Portland, Oregon.

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When found in their
lair, it is 60% likely

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that cloud giants will have
one to four spotted lions

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as pets guards.

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See D & D really likes to have
probabilities and possibilities

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for sidekick creatures.

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I love the idea of Josh having
one to four spotted lions,

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as he does have in real
life, it turns out.

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If more than one cloud giant
is encountered in their lair,

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it is 75% likely that the second
will be a cloud giant test,

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treat as a fire giant for hit
dice and damage and attack.

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And the others,
young giants, you

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can roll percentile dice to
determine the state of maturity,

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though one to two
years is common.

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Adult cloud giants
are extremely strong,

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and can hurl rocks long
distances, inflicting 12 to 24

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hit points of
damage if they hit.

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They have a 60% chance
of catching like missiles

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when chucked at them.

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All Josh Riedels have
a keen sense of irony.

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Thus they are
surprised only rarely

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when the culture
finally catches up

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to their surprisingly
subversive work.

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Josh Riedels are
very intelligent.

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Some of them have been employed
in Silicon Valley startups,

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and found themselves
disillusioned by the experience.

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And wrote novels about it, like
Please Report Your Bug Here,

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published by Henry Holt in 2023.

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They tend not to suffer fools.

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Josh Riedels often
bring the rain,

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as they did today to Tucson,
so thank you for that.

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Josh Riedels are typically
found dwelling on cloud islands.

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They can levitate
themselves twice a day.

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Josh Riedels are
generally neutral or good,

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but there is a 50%
chance that evil Josh

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Riedels will have one to
three captives in their lair.

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I don't write this
stuff, it just comes.

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Cloud giants and
Josh Riedels often

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display handsome and
well-defined features.

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Josh Riedels have pale-blue,
white to light-blue skin,

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silver-white or
brass colored hair,

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and wear various items
of clothing and jewelry.

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When they do wear armor, it is
usually a chain shirt, not seen.

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tonight, I see.

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Josh Riedels' nobility
seldom shows their faces,

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instead owning and wearing a
collection of exquisite masks

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that are made of
precious metals,

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and adorned with gemstones.

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The act of wearing
a mask was meant

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to emulate ancient depictions
of their patron God,

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and constitutes a kind
of art Josh Riedels know.

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They slip from nonfiction to
fiction with a change of mask,

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and have great facility in both.

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Josh Riedels are
easygoing people, highly

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creative masters
at strategizing,

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and have great
appreciation for music.

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They consider life to be a
series of obstacles, which

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are meant to be met with
joy, rather than sorrow,

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and overcome by
applications of skill.

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They are armed with great
clubs, a keen eye for sentences

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that sing, and much knowledge.

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Please welcome back
to Tucson Josh Riedel.

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