Man, this episode of Angel is totally making me get all mushy.
... What?... Fred is my favorite character!
In other news, work is almost over, and I'm glad of it. Weekend FTW. Now, I wonder if I can convince John to watch some fun nerdy movies with me tonight. We could use some 'us' time. :)
Friday, June 19, 2009
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Healthy Snackfood: Attempt #1.
And now a post on something all-important: snacks. Every gamer eats a lot of random snack-food while playing video games or D&D or just hanging out watching movies. Most of the stuff we're inclined to eat comes in convenient bags, usually labeled Doritos or Cheetos. This also includes other sedentary activities; like in my case, working at a library five days a week.
Most of the snacks I can buy in the vending machines downstairs are decidedly unhealthy, so today I went to the union and found a few things to make a quick and delicious trail mix. Here's what I threw together with simple ingredients I bought at the Student Union:
1 bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios
1 small bag of Planters Cashews
1 Box of raisins
1 bag of apple crisps
- Mix all ingredients together in the cereal bowl.
- Munch.
I'm hoping to try some variations of this as a substitute for chips. Might try different kinds of cashew (I LOVE cashews), maybe throw in some mini-m&ms, try a different kind of cereal, some popcorn.
The next test is to see if I can make enough of something like this to appease the appetites of my male gaming buddies in lieu of something horribly unhealthy. And cheaper than buying ready-made trail mix. Which usually has pretzels in it. And I don't like pretzels.
Right. back to watching Angel now. :)
Most of the snacks I can buy in the vending machines downstairs are decidedly unhealthy, so today I went to the union and found a few things to make a quick and delicious trail mix. Here's what I threw together with simple ingredients I bought at the Student Union:
1 bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios
1 small bag of Planters Cashews
1 Box of raisins
1 bag of apple crisps
- Mix all ingredients together in the cereal bowl.
- Munch.
I'm hoping to try some variations of this as a substitute for chips. Might try different kinds of cashew (I LOVE cashews), maybe throw in some mini-m&ms, try a different kind of cereal, some popcorn.
The next test is to see if I can make enough of something like this to appease the appetites of my male gaming buddies in lieu of something horribly unhealthy. And cheaper than buying ready-made trail mix. Which usually has pretzels in it. And I don't like pretzels.
Right. back to watching Angel now. :)
Quest Complete
Just got done with my first exam in my Archaeology of World Civilizations class; definitely the best summer class I've taken in my three years of college so far. The test was open book, so it was definitely easy, but the challenge was endurance: the test had five short-answer questions and five 40 point essays. Took up the hour out of the hour and forty minutes, but I still had time for a celebratory lunch - of a veggie burger, because I like my burgers free of dead animals :3.
Work has been fairly unexciting today, though I've barely been here for two hours. Luckily, the website I've been streaming Angel episodes from is working, I have munchies, and I can get started on my new book: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.
Not much else to do today; hopefully I'll get some gaming time in with John later tonight (I'm hoping I find the Horadric Cube today!), and later this week I might be meeting up with my friend Jim to start up a writing circle. Or at least a writing clump.
Back to watching Angel now - Wesley's father is definitely a tool.
Work has been fairly unexciting today, though I've barely been here for two hours. Luckily, the website I've been streaming Angel episodes from is working, I have munchies, and I can get started on my new book: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.
Not much else to do today; hopefully I'll get some gaming time in with John later tonight (I'm hoping I find the Horadric Cube today!), and later this week I might be meeting up with my friend Jim to start up a writing circle. Or at least a writing clump.
Back to watching Angel now - Wesley's father is definitely a tool.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Videogaming: Introductory Experiences
I didn't have much of an opportunity for playing videogames as a kid; my parents were decidedly more literarily inclined, and believed in encouraging reading and intelligent discussion rather than games, fearing the (theoretical) detachment and lack of social skills playing videogames would bring to my psyche.
Whatever my parents may have thought, I will of course always be grateful to them for encouraging my voracious appetite for books, and my subsequent study of old literature and history. However, it left me less than confident about my ability to play anything remotely resembling a full-blown videogame. My experience is limited to handheld consoles of the nintendo variety (Over the last 14 years I've played six different versions of Pokemon) and the occasional game of Bomberman 64 with my friend Katie back in fifth grade when her older sister used to babysit me.
Over the years I still had little experience; my crappy old mac computer had ancient games like Lode Runner on it, but other than that and flash games, I wasn't exactly an afficionado. Don't get me wrong, I was still a total geek - though more regarding movies and books than anything else.
As I spent more time on the internet - and started dating - I discovered new games like World of Warcraft. Which I never played... and never will, because nothing stings more than being a Warcraft Widow.
And that's what put me off videogames for a while; boys being more interested in videogames than me. Yeah, I was a bitter chick, and I know it.
So high school came and went, and then I moved on to the big world of college. Which is when I discovered Dungeons and Dragons, a game that has not only changed my social life, but opened me up to a new subculture. Over the last two and a half years I've learned two different versions of D&D and learned how to play Magic: The Gathering (I favor Blue/Black decks, in case you were wondering).
So I spent more time with gamer guys, dated around a bit, and the main thing I discovered about all of them was their love of videogames. And each definitely tried to encourage me to join in on their videogaming antics, both on computer and on console.
But I had an issue: I was a total wuss. One of the things that I hate the most is looking like a total fool (years of being picked on in school will do that to an insecure teenager I guess). So I didn't want to game in groups for fear of sucking horribly and being mocked.
After several failed attempts on the parts of ex-boyfriends to get me to play games (don't worry, it wasn't a melodramatic experience at all), I maintained my personal anxieties and continued with playing tabletop.
Then I started dating John; he's a big gamer, we even met through D&D. One of John's favorite games of all time is Diablo II, and it's an old game at that. I watched him play that, and numerous other games, for the year and a half we've been dating. A lot of the time I found myself experiencing classic symptoms of 'lonely nerd girlfriend' syndrome, staring moodily at my boyfriend while he ignored me as he played his videogames. It's not a fun experience.
A couple months ago, with the release of Pokemon Platinum, I found myself wandering through Wal-Mart with the purpose of wanting to buy myself a shiny new Nintendo DS. After two straight weeks of playing I had kicked the ass of all the gym leaders, caught as many pokemon as I could find, and beat the elite four.
And John, frequently peering over my shoulder, commented on the fact that I really did seem to know what I was doing.
A few months ago attempts were made to install Diablo II on my computer. After several failed attempts due to "compatability issues". Then last week, John had a revelation.
"Did I ever get you to install the patch?"
Ten minutes later, John and I had hooked out comptuers up (wireless at home ftw) and were playing a Barbarian and a Necromancer. The next day I started playing a solo game. I haven't had this much fun in forever.
So now, whenever John and Chris sit down to play Age of Wonders, I can curl up with a bottle of coke and some cookies and go back to ganking the hell out of Demons.
And after work today we're meeting up to LAN, and then I'm going to try my hand at taking down Andariel solo.
Well... not solo. Five skeletal minions, a golem and a merc doesn't really count as solo :3
Whatever my parents may have thought, I will of course always be grateful to them for encouraging my voracious appetite for books, and my subsequent study of old literature and history. However, it left me less than confident about my ability to play anything remotely resembling a full-blown videogame. My experience is limited to handheld consoles of the nintendo variety (Over the last 14 years I've played six different versions of Pokemon) and the occasional game of Bomberman 64 with my friend Katie back in fifth grade when her older sister used to babysit me.
Over the years I still had little experience; my crappy old mac computer had ancient games like Lode Runner on it, but other than that and flash games, I wasn't exactly an afficionado. Don't get me wrong, I was still a total geek - though more regarding movies and books than anything else.
As I spent more time on the internet - and started dating - I discovered new games like World of Warcraft. Which I never played... and never will, because nothing stings more than being a Warcraft Widow.
And that's what put me off videogames for a while; boys being more interested in videogames than me. Yeah, I was a bitter chick, and I know it.
So high school came and went, and then I moved on to the big world of college. Which is when I discovered Dungeons and Dragons, a game that has not only changed my social life, but opened me up to a new subculture. Over the last two and a half years I've learned two different versions of D&D and learned how to play Magic: The Gathering (I favor Blue/Black decks, in case you were wondering).
So I spent more time with gamer guys, dated around a bit, and the main thing I discovered about all of them was their love of videogames. And each definitely tried to encourage me to join in on their videogaming antics, both on computer and on console.
But I had an issue: I was a total wuss. One of the things that I hate the most is looking like a total fool (years of being picked on in school will do that to an insecure teenager I guess). So I didn't want to game in groups for fear of sucking horribly and being mocked.
After several failed attempts on the parts of ex-boyfriends to get me to play games (don't worry, it wasn't a melodramatic experience at all), I maintained my personal anxieties and continued with playing tabletop.
Then I started dating John; he's a big gamer, we even met through D&D. One of John's favorite games of all time is Diablo II, and it's an old game at that. I watched him play that, and numerous other games, for the year and a half we've been dating. A lot of the time I found myself experiencing classic symptoms of 'lonely nerd girlfriend' syndrome, staring moodily at my boyfriend while he ignored me as he played his videogames. It's not a fun experience.
A couple months ago, with the release of Pokemon Platinum, I found myself wandering through Wal-Mart with the purpose of wanting to buy myself a shiny new Nintendo DS. After two straight weeks of playing I had kicked the ass of all the gym leaders, caught as many pokemon as I could find, and beat the elite four.
And John, frequently peering over my shoulder, commented on the fact that I really did seem to know what I was doing.
A few months ago attempts were made to install Diablo II on my computer. After several failed attempts due to "compatability issues". Then last week, John had a revelation.
"Did I ever get you to install the patch?"
Ten minutes later, John and I had hooked out comptuers up (wireless at home ftw) and were playing a Barbarian and a Necromancer. The next day I started playing a solo game. I haven't had this much fun in forever.
So now, whenever John and Chris sit down to play Age of Wonders, I can curl up with a bottle of coke and some cookies and go back to ganking the hell out of Demons.
And after work today we're meeting up to LAN, and then I'm going to try my hand at taking down Andariel solo.
Well... not solo. Five skeletal minions, a golem and a merc doesn't really count as solo :3
Monday, June 15, 2009
Introductions
I've been tossing the idea of starting a blog like this up at various points in time, and a mild case of boredom at work has convinced me to actually get on it and start up a blog about one of the more pressing issues in the nerd community; what it means to be both a female and a gamer, a nerd that also contains a double-X chromosome. So this blog will be full of my musings and insights on games, books, movies, life as a nerdy girl, and what that even really means.
Being a gamer means being a part of a community, either on or off-line, and it gives the outside world a specific impression of your lifestyle to hear you're a gamer; the assumption being that you live in your mother's basement, you're male, you're overweight and live an overtly sedentary lifestyle. Stereotypes being what they are, a lot of this can be true, but I'm quite comfortable refuting many of them. Mostly of course by the fact that I'm a girl.
Most girls have little interest in the gaming community, the nerd subculture and the geekdom that is traditionally filled with socially awkward mouth-breathers who wouldn't know hygiene if it smacked them in the head with a can of deodorant. But there are always exceptions to this rule.
I've been a geek for pretty much all of my life; my mother introduced me to The Narnia Chronicles at the age of seven, I got my first Nintendo Game Boy at age ten, and stood in line with people twice my age to go see Star Wars Episode I. I lived in England for 12 years, from the ages of 5 to 17, giving me the chance to become a huge geek for all things historical. I'm an obsessive watcher of numerous cult TV shows, a reader of comics, both on and off-line, and a regular player of Dungeons and Dragons, which I learned in the Spring of 2007, my Freshman year of college. I'm a Senior English Major, minoring in History and Classical studies. I'm a (somewhat lapsed) member of the campus chapter of the SCA. I spend the bulk of my free time writing fantasy fiction and drawing my webcomic, Fries With That, which is loosely based on my experiences working in fast food. I also work at a campus library. I'm a big fan of midnight movies, TV show marathons, playing videogames like Pokemon and Diablo II, and hanging out with my equally nerdy friends. I've even managed to pick me up a nerdy boyfriend; John, who I've been seeing for about a year and a half. We met when I was invited to join the D&D campaign he was running in the Fall of 2007. I aspire to be an author and cartoonist, and possibly a Librarian.
So that's a fairly basic introduction to me and my world of nerdiness. As the weeks and days go by I'll blog at random about my experiences in this world and on this here internet, letting anyone who's interested know what it means to me to be a girl in the nerd subculture.
Happy reading!
Being a gamer means being a part of a community, either on or off-line, and it gives the outside world a specific impression of your lifestyle to hear you're a gamer; the assumption being that you live in your mother's basement, you're male, you're overweight and live an overtly sedentary lifestyle. Stereotypes being what they are, a lot of this can be true, but I'm quite comfortable refuting many of them. Mostly of course by the fact that I'm a girl.
Most girls have little interest in the gaming community, the nerd subculture and the geekdom that is traditionally filled with socially awkward mouth-breathers who wouldn't know hygiene if it smacked them in the head with a can of deodorant. But there are always exceptions to this rule.
I've been a geek for pretty much all of my life; my mother introduced me to The Narnia Chronicles at the age of seven, I got my first Nintendo Game Boy at age ten, and stood in line with people twice my age to go see Star Wars Episode I. I lived in England for 12 years, from the ages of 5 to 17, giving me the chance to become a huge geek for all things historical. I'm an obsessive watcher of numerous cult TV shows, a reader of comics, both on and off-line, and a regular player of Dungeons and Dragons, which I learned in the Spring of 2007, my Freshman year of college. I'm a Senior English Major, minoring in History and Classical studies. I'm a (somewhat lapsed) member of the campus chapter of the SCA. I spend the bulk of my free time writing fantasy fiction and drawing my webcomic, Fries With That, which is loosely based on my experiences working in fast food. I also work at a campus library. I'm a big fan of midnight movies, TV show marathons, playing videogames like Pokemon and Diablo II, and hanging out with my equally nerdy friends. I've even managed to pick me up a nerdy boyfriend; John, who I've been seeing for about a year and a half. We met when I was invited to join the D&D campaign he was running in the Fall of 2007. I aspire to be an author and cartoonist, and possibly a Librarian.
So that's a fairly basic introduction to me and my world of nerdiness. As the weeks and days go by I'll blog at random about my experiences in this world and on this here internet, letting anyone who's interested know what it means to me to be a girl in the nerd subculture.
Happy reading!
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