This past weekend, I attended my second PAX East.

I spent a lot of time trying new tabletop games in the Demo area and hanging out in Indie Games. I have friends with massive game collections so I can try games easier than most, but picking and choosing randomness that even they might not have/want, is priceless.

Shouts out to all the people who played games like Shadowfist, HexHex, Legend of the Cipher, Food Fight, Lords of Waterdeep and that cool magnet game with me.You all helped rock my PAX! None of that girls drool and fake geek girl nonsense here.

I do have to get better on the “let’s play more games” together bit though. Seriously.

Surprise surprise that the support-local-support-small-business girl loved Indie Games. I am especially in love with Color Sheep. I heart Woolson the sheep. He is now one of my desktop backgrounds. Oh and a non-digital indie note, I picked up Freemarket. That game was created for me. I may have thrown my hands in the air and shouted “YES!” as it was described for me. Post-apocalypse, sci-fi, non-killing ‘cause everyone’s mostly immortal RPG? Bring it on! Ridiculously excited about this game. If only I could pull myself away from that damn sheep.  

I didn’t move around the con much this year, no panels, no concerts, no classic console gaming, etc. So on the whole, my experience seemed a little disjointed or maybe unbalanced. I’m still trying to figure it out. But I have a theory and why yes, it does revolve back to that good ole Consumer vs. Producer balance. So glad you noticed.

Maybe I’m spoiled.

PAX isn’t the only convention I attend. Don’t be too jealous, I started my con going late in life. Well late-ish since I was at the tail end of my twenties. I make the rounds to sci-fi conventions, comic-cons and this year, the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) which was held in Boston. At those, I always find something that inspires me to create something or explore ideas, such as writing that short story idea I’ve been noodling, reading a new books or trying new costuming elements.

I’m not sure that attending panels or the QAs or more concerts would help this sinking feeling. I could be wrong, and feel free to point it out to me, but those seem to boost and foster that sense of community.  I definitely dig the “people here get me” community that happens at cons. That in and of itself is a big part of why I attend. But it’s not my sole purpose for going.

Of course, again,  I’m might be spoiled.

At home with I have a solid circle of friends is just as geeky and creative as me. Granted it isn’t 24/7, but anytime I want to hold a Grill Friday or attend a Games by PlayDate event or shout out on Twitter, they’re there.

None of this will prevent me from attending more PAXs, on the contrary I’ll keep going, having fun and exploring. I guess this is my own personal Dead Dog party back into the introspection of post-con reality.

A $24 chicken (a local economy love story)

I bought a $24 chicken.  Wow, that’s a lot of money, you say? Why yes, yes it is. When I was a struggling single mom, I would wait patiently for whole chickens to go on sale and get marked with dollars-off coupons.  A whole chicken could easily make 3-4 meals since I made soup stock and gravy with the bones and bits.  Although I’m more financially stable today, that thriftiness holds true and I still stop by the marked down veggie cart at the supermarket on a regular basis. So why on earth would I pay $24 for a chicken?

The long and the short of it is this: I want to support my local farmers and my local economy. And I am lucky enough to be in a position that I can.

This chicken comes from a local NH farm that employs NH workers. It also sells farm goods to NH restaurants and NH markets. When I hear about how we need to boost the economy by spending, I want my boost to the economy to count in my community. I want my hard-earned dollars to help employ my neighbors and support things I believe in, like local organic foods.  

I believe that voting with your dollars is just as powerful as voting in the voting booth (which I have at every possible election since I turned 18).  I’ve never thought of it as “I’m only one person what difference can I make?” I’ve always thought “What if one day, everyone did it at once?”  

Geeking out: a common human thread?

After years of want, I finally took my Hunter Education course this past weekend. Despite breaking a whole host of stereotypes and starting with zero knowledge about hunting, I had a great time. I used it as a “You don’t know what you don’t know” experience. Now, I have tons of jumping off points in my quest to learn how to hunt.

Some of our instructors were fabulous. And as I listened to them talk, I realized that I felt like I’d met them somewhere else before; their behavior, their mannerisms seemed so familiar.

And then it hit me. They are hunting geeks.

In fandom, I hear stories of dividers and walls and who’s not geek enough. Luckily, I am either too oblivious or too naïve to see most, if any, of it. In my experience, people have been willing to share their knowledge, love and appreciation of the thing that inspires them to geek out.

Some joke that it’s because I’m a cute girl. But I think if you’re good-natured, open and genuinely curious, people will share what they love and you’ll be even richer for the experience. 

A Sunday morning with NH Media Makers

It's no secret, unless I'm out in the garden, I like to sleep in on Sunday mornings. This week I shook up the routine a bit, when Beau Ouelette, founder of WreelLife, asked my husband and I to go my first NH Media Makers event out in Newmarket, NH. 

Held monthly at Crackskulls Coffee & Books, the meetup brought together 20 or so folks ready to talk about their current projects. With 2 minutes dedicated to each person round robin, the energy was amazing. 

So often I hear from folks that there's nothing going on in NH and I always retort that there are tons of projects running just beneath the mainstream surface. Once you become involved in one project, the doors open to really cool people, ideas and happenings occurring right here in, yes, you guessed it, NH. 

So folks, get involved! Need ideas? Give me a shout out.