When I was a lot younger, and my mother was on summer break, she would bring home a PC from work. Early on, it was usually an Apple IIE, and later a generic IBM running Windows 3.1. But I was always excited. This meant that I got to play games, helping a gnome or rabbit through a maze (slamming them into walls along the way), helping Sir Graham become King Graham, or eventually, making my way through the Catacombs to defeat Nemesis. The computers and the games advanced with the times, and I did my best to keep up.
I'm confused as to where along the line, computer games and in reality, a lot of games in general, became synonymous with being a geeky loser. I am still a lover of computer games and other, probably more nerdy pursuits. I just don't get why people rag on such things. They're fun.
Take a board game I bought recently, Arkham Horror. The game itself is based on the writings of renowned horror author, HP Lovecraft, and is a complex strategy/cooperative game where the goal is to close portals to other worlds while defeating monsters. Sounds pretty fun right? However, when I've asked my friends to try it out, I've met with responses varying from putting me off to flat out refusal. I can only guess that to others it seems like one step away from playing the pencil and paper RPGs that proliferate the world of "nerds".
I'm a nerd and I'll be the first to admit it. I enjoy chess, science fiction, and computer games. But I don't see anything negative in that connotation. Nerdy pursuits are fun. I guarantee that most people have at least one hidden part of their life that could be considered geeky. So why not let it out?
Talk nerdy to me. I think its hot.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Saturday, August 2, 2008
The Break of Dawn
As some of you are probably aware, I spend the majority of my week manning a cash register in a bookstore. It's a pretty enjoyable job most of the time. I get to be around other readers, there is usually exceptional music playing, and the discount is wonderful. Unfortunately for someone who likes to wear costumes from time to time, I missed the era of Harry Potter. I thought that the time of midnight release parties was over.
How silly of me.
Last night, I dressed up in semi-traditional western wear, my interpretation of how a werewolf would dress, put long jade plugs in my ears, and went off to sell copies of Breaking Dawn, the latest book in the Twilight series to a bunch of Vampire crazed teeny boppers. I recently read the first book and it mostly infuriated me, centering on a weak, co-dependent female protagonist, so I was ready to be irritated for the majority of the night. However, I really had quite a good time.
I can't vouch for the quality of these books. They're well written enough (though apparently I'm not a judge of good writing according to some) but the characters are cut outs and seem like preteen wish fulfillment. Call me a cynic. They make a lot of folk happy, though, and it was a fun crowd to be around and event to work.
This was a slightly different group than the Potter parties I've attended. Where those seemed to be full of the little league parents, angrily looking at their watches and wanting their kids to be the first to get the book because their darling dumpling is clearly the best Hermione, this was a much more laid back crowd. People were in the cafe dancing, groups sat on the floor and talked, many browsed the store shelves, the manga section particularly picked over. At 11:30 the costume contest ended, and the winners took their place at the start of line. From there, things went quickly, the last customer leaving with their book at 12:26.
Sampling some terrible vampire themed wine in the back room, we bookstore nightmare creatures were all smiles. Theres something about being able to hand a super excited fan a copy of their newest hopes and dreams, seeing the grin on their face when they clutch the book to their chest and run out the door, hurrying to get home and crease the spine for the first time. All jobs have their small pleasures and this was one for me.
How silly of me.
Last night, I dressed up in semi-traditional western wear, my interpretation of how a werewolf would dress, put long jade plugs in my ears, and went off to sell copies of Breaking Dawn, the latest book in the Twilight series to a bunch of Vampire crazed teeny boppers. I recently read the first book and it mostly infuriated me, centering on a weak, co-dependent female protagonist, so I was ready to be irritated for the majority of the night. However, I really had quite a good time.
I can't vouch for the quality of these books. They're well written enough (though apparently I'm not a judge of good writing according to some) but the characters are cut outs and seem like preteen wish fulfillment. Call me a cynic. They make a lot of folk happy, though, and it was a fun crowd to be around and event to work.
This was a slightly different group than the Potter parties I've attended. Where those seemed to be full of the little league parents, angrily looking at their watches and wanting their kids to be the first to get the book because their darling dumpling is clearly the best Hermione, this was a much more laid back crowd. People were in the cafe dancing, groups sat on the floor and talked, many browsed the store shelves, the manga section particularly picked over. At 11:30 the costume contest ended, and the winners took their place at the start of line. From there, things went quickly, the last customer leaving with their book at 12:26.
Sampling some terrible vampire themed wine in the back room, we bookstore nightmare creatures were all smiles. Theres something about being able to hand a super excited fan a copy of their newest hopes and dreams, seeing the grin on their face when they clutch the book to their chest and run out the door, hurrying to get home and crease the spine for the first time. All jobs have their small pleasures and this was one for me.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
