The library will be closed at all locations at the following times:
Tuesday, December 24th at 12pm
Wednesday, December 25th, all day
Tuesday, December 31st at 2pm
Wednesday, January 1st, 2025, all day
The library's temporary locations are at the Beech Street Center and the E.C. Benton Library. For more information, including hours of operation, please click here.

Author: Lauren Pfendner

Check Out PressReader!

Posted on by Lauren Pfendner

Belmont Public Library is delighted to offer PressReader, the world’s best digital newspaper and magazine coverage.

PressReader allows for unlimited access to over 7,000 titles from 120+ countries in 60 languages as soon as they are available on shelves and no limits on downloads. Titles include:

  • The Economist
  • The Guardian
  • Newsweek
  • China Daily
  • Daily Mail
  • Der Tagesspiegel
  • Libération
  • La Razon

Digital downloads are yours to keep forever, and accessible via your laptop, tablet or phone with the PressReader app. Get started with PressReader today by using your library card to gain 48 hours access here. (You can renew your 48 hour access as many times as you need/want.)

Death Knell: A Shadowdark RPG Megadungeon 2024

Posted on by Lauren Pfendner

A bell tolls throughout the seven realms, bringing with it a fear of the unknown and a quivering dread that chills all mortals’ bones. A mysterious dungeon island has appeared, a dark peak in what was once open oceans. United for the first time in centuries, the nations of Regnis send heroes to explore its depths and the dark secrets–or treasures–within.

Join us for this is a virtual Shadowdark RPG Megadungeon, with rules based on traditional D&D 1st Edition, and using Discord and Owlbear.rodeo. Players can explore a vast new dungeon level each week (from June 26 – July 31) with Game Masters from across the country. Open to ages 13-21. Limited registration, so act fast!

Starmoth: A Super Dungeon Recap

Posted on by Lauren Pfendner

08/10/2023

One of our ten major games in the Super Dungeon was Starmoth, a homebrew adventure crafted by volunteer and professional tutor, Dennis Yi. His games had a variety of educational and philosophical ties for his players and he gave permission for the library to share the insights and nerd culture references he posted for his players at the end of the Super Dungeon.

If you would like to play any of the Virtual Escape Rooms designed by this Game Master, see them here!

What is the Starmoth?

  • It’s an evocative name.
  • It’s a species of Althean moth, now endangered due to the destruction of surface ecosystems, whose wings bear a starry pattern that remind people of the lost night sky.
  • It’s an aspect of Throg Below and Peraxa Above, representing the duality of earthly decay and skyward flight.
  • It’s a constellation whose two wings are sometimes identified as two sub-constellations, the dove and the crow.
  • It’s the ghostly green nebula that haunts the night skies of the Serene Sea.
  • It’s a certain Frenchman’s worldbuilding project that serves heavily as inspiration for Dennis’s games.

This short story is a good entry point for the vibe: https://old.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/118yrdx/the_imperial_dream_starmoth/ More core starmoth references: https://starmoth.space/intro/ https://starmoth.space/History/xenohistory/ https://old.reddit.com/r/worldbuilding/comments/xr4n7d/the_sequence_starmoth_setting/ Dennis’s Starmoth Sequence is rooted, as far as he believes, in existentialist themes and various neat oddities in linguistics and mathematics.

Language

The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis is also known as linguistic relativity, the idea that the language we speak shapes thought. For example, while languages across the world have developed color words in the same order, indicating a universal biological constraint behind language, differences in color terms cause differences in color perception. 

Characters

Gerald

Gerald the Shambler and the Gate-Builders as a whole are based on the Sequence from Starmoth, a similar but more terrifying ancient star-spanning empire with a habit of assimilating other civilizations via cultural manipulation. This cross-pollinated with Ella’s ideas to create the Gate-Builders featured in Super Dungeon 3. https://starmoth.space/History/xenohistory/ Gerald took further inspiration from modern AI technology and its weaknesses, such as in Winograd schema and garden path sentences. (See video by Tom Scott: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3vIEKWrP9Q ) Gerald also played Sprouts, a game with deep mathematical grounding. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprouts_(game)

Hubert and Rupert

Hubert and Rupert, who appeared in this session (but were not named), had personalities inspired by Statler and Waldorf from the muppets and names borrowed from a webcomic, Dresden Codak: https://dresdencodak.com/2005/06/22/rupert-and-hubert/

jan pona

jan pona was originally Kalisa, a sort of gay fey spirit (who instead of being very short-lived does not exist in linear time): https://starmoth.space/ShortStories/chroniclesofthedrive/ https://starmoth.space/History/xenohistory/?post_id=160&title=ladies-that-wander

radioactive pseudopenguins

The radioactive pseudopenguins are borrowed directly from Starmoth. https://old.reddit.com/r/worldbuilding/comments/sapamk/the_penguins_are_radioactive/

Week 2: Nirenberg on Nauvis

The planet of Nauvis, including the maps and enemies, is from Factorio, a factory-builder game featuring angry bug wildlife. The theme here was of biotechnological evolution, not as an observation but as an imperative. See also synthetic biology and utility fog. Nirenberg was the decipherer of the 64 genetic codons. The puzzles were based on DNA coding, starting with real DNA codons and moving on to a fictional triple-helix genetic substrate molecule. “Hello world” is a computer science tradition, while “int main” is common in C-like programming languages. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C_(programming_language)

Week 3: Anansi’s Bottle

The Vlotians took inspiration from Starmoth’s Vriij. Their philosophy reflects the self-negating aspect of Buddhism. https://starmoth.space/History/xenohistory/?post_id=137&title=vriij- Candor, the Drow, mixes eastern meditative traditions into Drow dream-quests. Various tech items reference Star Trek, such as EPS conduits and Holodeck. The video game FTL: Faster Than Light contributed ship tokens and the ship interior map, while Babylon 5 gave the Gate-Builder ship image. The space combat scene and Firebase-Class battleship IPCS In Your Heart Shall Burn were adapted from Starmoth’s short story “Assault on Draugr”, though that had a happier ending. https://starmoth.space/History/humanhistory/?post_id=200&title=assault-on-draugr Certain Prophecy is a Covenant ship from Halo, while Inspiral, Coalescence, Ringdown was named for a ship from the Culture series by Iain M. Banks. The ambiguity puzzle about using each word in two different ways was flavored as a neural network training evaluation. It was borrowed from a book by Alex Bellos. https://www.theguardian.com/games/2020/oct/31/test-your-wits-with-a-book-of-ingenious-language-puzzles The puzzle about connecting cables was the three utilities problem, on a torus. Anansi’s Bottle, of course, references the tale of how Anansi spilled all the wisdom in the world. https://mythologyexplained.com/anansi-the-spider/

Week 4: Nephila

Nephila is a genus of orb-weaver spiders and a reference to Eriophora, the gate-builder asteroid-ship in the Sunflowers cycle by Peter Watts. The Island is a good introduction to the series. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nephila https://rifters.com/real/shorts/PeterWatts_TheIsland.pdf The Oberth Kuiper maneuver at the beginning of the session was a reference to an xkcd comic: https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1244:_Six_Words jan pona’s sunsurfing minigame used rules borrowed from a board game, Triplanetary. http://www.sjgames.com/triplan/ The psychoanalytic dream sequence was inspired by puzzle video game Baba is You and lucid dreams. The speech and dreams of the ship itself were inspired by the hybrids from Battlestar Galactica.

Week 5: The Two Vlotias

The minigame puzzle about trying to cut off the waystation connections before the Mold reached Vlotia was the Shannon switching game. The map started out as a stargate map from Eve Online, which also provided many of my ship, planet, and background images. The story continues to borrow from the Starmoth’s Vriij. During the session I also referenced Star Trek, specifically Deep Space 9. The Gate-Builders in general mix the Federation’s culture and the Borg’s technology. Real-life biology featured this week includes manta ray intelligence, hydras’ indefinite regeneration, and octopuses dying after they’ve hatched their eggs.

Week 6: The Sporangium Eye

Monday’s session was pure toki pona, with lessons abbreviated from jan Misali’s 12 days of learning toki pona. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjOmpMyMxd8T9lZjF36c4mn4YgwZ4ToT6 The story at the end of the tigers and the strawberries was a Zen koan. https://www.feelingoodfeelingreat.com/2014/08/07/tigers-strawberries/ https://medium.com/age-of-awareness/the-tiger-and-the-strawberry-b73de1dccf19

The farstation and its builder, the Iconoclast Seeker, was inspired by the Avid Watcher, a Sovereign from Starmoth. For images, I used XCOM’s gatekeeper. https://starmoth.space/History/xenohistory/?post_id=251&title=sequence-sovereigns

Final session puzzles:

  1. An adaptation of Set, the card game.
  2. Elder Futhark runes
  3. Two layers: Morse code, a Vigenere cipher.
  4. Rebus
  5. Silly phonetic misspellings, a la https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghoti. See also Mark Twain’s Plan for the Improvement of English Spelling. https://faculty.georgetown.edu/jod/texts/twain.html
  6. ASCII with parity for error correction and data reconstruction: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parity_bit
  7. Masyu https://www.puzzle-masyu.com/

Philosophy

I referenced a number of philosophies in my games. jan pona references Taoism and Zen. Where jan pona trends towards Existentialism, the black hole cult (singularity patron) seen in Aeidolon’s games trends towards Nihilism, as do the Vlotians with the negative side of Buddhism. Gerald the Shambler expresses something between Modernism and Postmodernism. Another way to see the typology of my characters is via the Vinegar tasters: On realizing existence has no inherent meaning, jan pona is at peace, Rupert and Hubert laugh (philosophical laughter: https://existentialcomics.com/comic/355), the Singularity-worshippers are in terror, and Vlotians are bitter. Gerald and the Gate-Builders meanwhile attempt to construct the purpose of life as expansionism and infinite growth. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinegar_tasters

Music

John Quijada, creator of Ithkuil, has a prog-rock album sung entirely in the language. https://www.youtube.com/@johnquijada2756

jan Usawi is an amazing musician who sings in toki pona. Favorite tracks: “tawa lon linja”, “likujo”, “monsuta”

https://janusawi.bandcamp.com/album/lon https://janusawi.bandcamp.com/album/7-8 https://janusawi.bandcamp.com/track/monsuta

bonus vibe music:

Lorde – Te Ara Tika / The Path (track, in Māori) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmTxdO4LlK4&list=PL7aRhEMqaSuT5lw0h8a4AFZf6dIlxbsg_

M83 – Oblivion (feat Susanne Sundfør) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjpbQ1OWMPE

Eivør – Slør (album, in Faroese) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tmu8sVs7o8Q&list=PLiN-7mukU_RHRU-6aKUFnnOUUDiZQQmNx

GUNSHIP – Dark All Day (album) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHFkNuoaI3E

Boards of Canada – Trans Canada Highway (EP) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrZ88ooxYf4

Redshift – Halo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dE7w046lIA

God is an Astronaut – All is Violent, All is Bright https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUjV_zKX7xk

Explosions in the Sky – The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veMONQwn7W8

Beyond the Aether: Theme Teaser

Posted on by Lauren Pfendner

05/10/2023

Join players from across the country with a virtual Super Dungeon that runs from June 23rd-August 6th. This year, discover a new world and what is beyond in a game like no other.

Pre-Register for the Super Dungeon Here.

This theme reveal was written by Ella Sheffield, Theme Master of Super Dungeon 2023.

The planet, winding its way around its young blue star, is only one of thousands of similar pieces of rock in the remote star cluster. But that matters little. The network begins to expand.

Transmission from Althean Outpost Station #413
Received by University of Peraxia Station
Panstellar Standard Count 1210367.602
No translation in effect
Message follows:

Hey Prof! Sera here. So, you’re going to hear about this in a few days in the usual report anyway, but it’s real weird, so I figured I should shoot you a heads-up now, see if you’ve got any insight. It happened only a couple days ago, so about panstan 121365? Basically, I was out on sample collection with Jezper and a few of the interns — looking for that Tradescantia arcana I told you about — when we found this patch of forest that was all grown over with this weird purplish-red fungus. It didn’t look like anything we recognized, so of course Jezper starts freaking out. I mean, you know how they get about new species of mushroom. Except then we started looking closer, and it turns out that this fungus isn’t just growing on the other plants. It’s more like it’s changing the host plants, so like trees are sprouting purple bark and weird growths and stuff? It even looked like it was changing the soil composition, which makes no sense. Anyway, one of the interns touched one of the fungal growths and a big puff of spores came out, which is when I decided to call the expedition. Until we can figure out the proper safety procedures for this thing I don’t want to put any rookies in harm’s way, so all I’ve got is one sample I grabbed to take back to the lab. If you know anything about what’s happening here, send me a wave! It’d be super helpful.

Sera out.

Transmission from Government Station of Upper Treeside
Received by <Coordinate code: Althea, Subset: All>
Panstellar Standard Count 1210399.240
No translation in effect
Message follows:

URGENT NOTIFICATION TO ALL RESIDENTS OF THE NORTHERN SURFACE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO: DARKISLET, UPPER TREESIDE, AND OUTPOST STATIONS 125-413.

The Council of Surface Governments has declared a state of emergency in regards to continuing spread of the invasive biological entity colloquially known as “the Mold”. ALL RESIDENTS OF THE NORTHERN SURFACE REGIONS ARE ADVISED TO EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY. Residents of the Eastern and Southern regions are likewise advised to be on high alert as government teams will be deploying with flame weapons and atmospheric chemicals in an attempt to slow the spread. DO NOT EXIT YOUR DWELLINGS WHILE GOVERNMENT TEAMS ARE WORKING. DO NOT APPROACH ANY MOLD-INFECTED AREAS. If you detect any signs of the Mold entering your community, notify emergency response officials in your area at once.

Transmission from Municipality of North Kima Station
Received by Upper Treeside Station #28
Panstellar Standard Count 1210408.114
No translation in effect
Message follows:

Dal, it’s Isbel. They say the aetherwave network’s failing for a lot of the surface stations, so this might be the last transmission I can send. Listen, you’ve got to get out of there. I’m right on the edge here, and I don’t care what the government says, it’s not slowing down. But they say it doesn’t travel through rock nearly as well as overland, so the Underdark might still be safe for a while. The government’s trying to negotiate that deal with the corporations down there but don’t wait for that to get sorted. Just take your kids, take Mom and Dad, and leave. Before it’s too late.

I love you.

Flashes of light. Silence. It used to be louder here.

Transmission from Interstellar Peace Confederation Station #8803
Received by Interstellar Peace Confederation Station #0002
Panstellar Standard Count 1210529.507
Translated from Orthio’o
Message follows:

Inquiry. Has unusual information been received regarding the planet Althea? We have received no aetherwave communications from this planet in 120 count, the longest recorded silence since first contact. Several members of our craft who had regular communications have become concerned, although we are aware that their space initiatives have encountered troubles with <No direct translation. Closest approximations: bureaucracy, excrement.> in the past. If no information has been received, we recommend reinitiating communications speedily. Pleasantries from the crew of the <No direct translation. Proper noun.> .

Transmission from Interstellar Peace Confederation Station #0002
Received by Althean Underground Station #1
Panstellar Standard Count 1210534.875
Translated from Orthio’o
Message follows:

ALTHEA, confirm. You report an invasive biological hazard overtaking the surface of your planet? And you also report no physical contact with interstellar traveling civilizations? Confirm.

Transmission from Interstellar Peace Confederation Station #0002
Received by Althean Underground Station #1
Panstellar Standard Count 1210931.663
Translated from Orthio’o
Message follows:

Response to Althean Request for Aid #23. Unfortunately, risk estimates maintain that it remains excessively dangerous for external craft to approach your planet. No direct aid will be supplied at this time. However, your secondary request of free travel in IPC starspace and permission to colonize has been sent for review to the IPC Transportation Administration. You may anticipate a response in 500-700 count. Pleasantries from IPC Central.

Transmission from Interstellar Peace Confederation Station #0002
Received by Althean Underground Station #1
Panstellar Standard Count 1211759.419
Translated from Orthio’o
Message follows:

Response to Althean Inquiry Regarding Travel and Colonization Permissions. Free travel permissions have been granted to all registered Althean spacecraft, provided craft comply with IPC reduced violence regulations. Colonization permissions have been granted under a limited license, subject to the following restrictions: First, no colonization efforts may be undertaken on planets inhabited by beings of Intelligence Class 3 or higher. Second, no colonization efforts may be undertaken in star systems currently claimed by an IPC participating civilization. Third, no colonization or exploration craft are permitted to contain weapons of grade-4 (planet ending) or higher. Fourth, thorough biological hazard  decontamination protocols must be followed for all craft leaving Althea, in accordance with the standardized IPC procedures. [See IPC Standards Document 7010-W009]. Failure to comply with these regulations will result in expulsion from the IPC and reclassification as a hostile civilization. Pleasantries from IPC Central.

Transmission from High Extrasolar Research Observatory Station #1
Received by <Coordinate code: Althea, Subset: All>
Panstellar Standard Count 1219127.300
No translation in effect
Message follows:

After a lot of setbacks, we here at the High Extrasolar Research Observatory are pleased to announce that the first Althean Waystation is up and running! For the first time, our planet is now capable of interstellar travel! That means that it’s time to officially put out the call: we are looking for volunteers to be part of our first contingent of space explorers. We need as many volunteers as possible to search for new worlds for our people to live on. So, anyone who’s interested in the continuing survival of their species, sign up now! We’re serious; this could not be any more urgent. We’ll take anyone!

D&D Super Dungeon 2023 Theme Reveal

Posted on by Lauren Pfendner

04/27/2023

Last year’s D&D Super Dungeon brought in 900 attendees in over 100 interconnected games that culminated in the sealing of an ancient evil to maintain the balance of chaos and order in the universe. This year, players will take on a whole new reality with even bigger stakes crafted by our Theme Masters and over 10 GMs. Watch this teaser video for a special theme reveal of this summer’s next big adventure.

Friends Author Series: Jason Gay

Posted on by Lauren Pfendner

We are excited to welcome Belmont native son and New York Times best-selling author Jason Gay back to talk about his newest book, I Wouldn’t Do That If I Were Me: Modern Blunders and Modest Triumphs (but Mostly Blunders). In Gay’s most recent work, he takes a humorous and insightful look at life in the face of overwhelming societal change that we never anticipated—from the effects on parenthood, marriage, friendship, work, and play to all other aspects of the strange lives we find ourselves living.

Jason Gay is the sports and humor columnist at the Wall Street Journal, and he is very aware of how that sounds. In 2010, 2016, and 2019, Gay was named Sports Columnist of the Year by the Society of Professional Journalists. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller Little Victories and a finalist for the 2016 Thurber Prize in American Humor.

Registration is required. Please fill out the form here to sign up. Zoom access details will be sent in a reminder email prior to the program.

This program is sponsored by the Friends of the Belmont Public Library and is presented in partnership with the public libraries of Andover, Ashland, Danvers, Franklin, Nashua NH, Norwood, Wayland, and Woburn.

Prom Outfit Donations

Posted on by Lauren Pfendner

NOW ONLY ACCEPTING MENSWEAR

The Belmont Public Library YA Services Department will be accepting donations of lightly-used black tie formal wear for our “Fancy ‘Fits” Prom Outfit Donation Drive. The only items being accepted on a rolling basis for this drive are the following:

  • heeled or flat formal shoes
  • two-piece or three-piece suits in adult sizes
  • men’s dress shoes
  • unaltered white dress shirts
  • formal ties or bowties
  • accessories relevant to an outfit (shawls, purses, hats, hair ornaments)

Please bring your donations to the Flett Room. There will be a hanging rack where you can drop off your donated items.

Any suits or gowns we deem unfit for reuse will be responsibly recycled. Please refrain from donating any formal wear that are in need of repair, stained, scuffed, or otherwise damaged.

Are you in need of a formal wear outfit?

Once all donated outfits are professionally cleaned thanks to the generous contributions of our Friends of the Library and partner dry cleaner, Sun Rite Cleaners, we will set-up appointments for students and their guests to browse our collection and select an outfit of their choice free of charge. Sun Rite Cleaners will offer a 10% discount for alterations for students who use Fancy ‘Fits for their prom outfits via a library voucher they obtain after selecting their chosen outfit. Date for appointments will be in April.

Where will the extra outfits be donated?

We have community partners in Arlington and Lexington who will distribute the remaining outfits from the collection to students in need.

Any questions?
Email the YA Services Librarian at [email protected] or leave a voice message at (617)993-2873.

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