Why Everyone Should Be on Tumblr

In the beginning I was resistant to tumblr. I was convinced that it was filled with pretentious users participating in nonsensical rebloggings, incoherent ramblings, and a basic holier than thou attitude. In short, I didn't understand the platform.

 

An accurate recreation of my feelings.

It wasn't until I wanted to expand the A Bit of Geek presence that I made an account and slowly fell down the rabbit hole. At first, I was confused as all hell. The site seems very stupid, and pointless, because you don't have anyone to follow. Or rather, you don't know who  to follow if you, like me, didn't have tumblr friends to give you some great starting suggestions. That will change though! Plus the latter half of this article will give you some tips on how to get going :D Nowadays tumblr is one of my favorites places to go for artistic inspiration, entertainment, social justice awareness, and a general interest in learning new things.



It's an easy way to find people who don't think like you do. If you're intrigued by this foreign notion, then you can bounce around and find other users who share this new idea, this unfamiliar point of view. Maybe you just want to explore theories that are contrary to yours in an effort to better understand or solidify your own opinions. Perhaps you'll learn new things about yourself in the process and discover that you're a feminist, an idealist, a dreamer, an ally, obsessed with vintage photos, intrigued by 1920s suitcase designs, fascinated by movies with a certain theme, a spinning wheel enthusiast, desperate to start homesteading, and on and on. Perhaps you never realized what it was like to truly be in a fandom and, after accidentally stumbling across someone's Sherlock devoted tumblr, you can now see the appeal of the show.

 

Or you'll get sucked into a show and end up quoting references to yourself.

So, my advice for starting out on tumblr! Pick a person that you admire and then see if they have a tumblr, or see if there's a tumblr about them. Take Wil Wheaton, for example. He is magnificent at tumblr. From him I get so much more than geek references and the occasional Star Trek: TNG reblog. I receive exceptional political and economic commentary that, as a result, has made me much more informed on the current state of the US government than I've ever been before. Many times I am presented with a small and powerful quote accompanied by a link to a larger article. These citations of a good tumblr user help to perpetuate being informed, and I can get the full "experience" and not just the (sometimes) shocking quote.



The diversity of my tumblr feed also prevents me from being exposed to just news or just serene photos. I would like to stay informed and also not feel like garbage after reading depressing news report after depressing news report. Having that kind of information interspersed with the occasional hilarious Chief O'Brien comic makes the world feel a little better.

 

The loneliest being on the Enterprise.

At its core it's a fun and easy way to create a collection of things that you love, like, find interesting, or fascinating. If you want to be organized about it then go to Pinterest, but if you simply like to ingest and then move on then tumblr is the place for you! Just be sure to find the good users: the ones who quote and cite sources, so that you're able to, as an adult with a thirst for knowledge and proof, can move from intrigued and curious to informed and opinionated.



And that is why I think everyone should be on tumblr. In my experience you'd be hard pressed to find a place as entertaining and informative. The knowledge that tumblr has randomly and suddenly shoved in front of me has been life changing, even though that sounds a tad dramatic. I've also found so many new artists that inspire me to push harder at my craft. I love tumblr!



You can follow my personal account mirandajabog for a catch-all of things I like and abitofgeek for general geek goodness! Do you have a tumblr?



-MJ



*header image source. Kind of.

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10 (Geeky) Things on my Wish List

I don't know about you, but when I'm stressed, tired, and in need of some excitement, sometimes the only thing that comforts me is some good, old-fashioned shopping therapy. Of course, I don't always get to buy everything I want (okay, I never get to buy everything I want, because I could bankrupt Bill Gates in an hour) but the act of picking things out and thinking about owning them is usually enough for me. This is why the "wish list" function on any given website is my go-to on a rainy day. I have a wish list on almost every website I've signed up for. It's so much fun for me to just sit on my laptop, browse through all the new arrivals, and click that delightful little "add to wish list" button so conveniently located on the product's information page.

I also like to think I'm a very good shopper, with a keen eye for great deals on unique, quality products. I'd love to share some of my great (and geeky!) finds with my fellow ABOGS; maybe you'll find something in this list that is an absolute must-have for your collection!

10. Doctor Who Yahtzee (From ThinkGeek, $24.99)

Everything you love about classic Yahtzee, plus time traveling in the Tardis? Yes, please! Featuring the Doctor's worst enemies as the dice and the Tardis as the dice cup, you're sure to have a Wibbly-Wobbly Timey-Wimey game night with your friends and family!

9. iDuck (From ThinkGeek, $29.99)

I found this in the "Geek Kids" section, but I want it for my adult self! Having to touch my iPhone while I'm in the bath or shower is not relaxing; I am constantly paranoid I'm going to cause water damage. This convenient little ducky will solve all those first-world woes! Just hook your iPhone up to the egg, and set it somewhere safe and dry. Then just toss ducky into the tub and let him swim around while blasting your favorite band!

8. Li'l Wil Wheaton Plushie (Hijinks Ensue, $19.95)

Every once in a while, we all need a reminder not to be a dick. That's when you'll be glad you have your Wil Wheaton plushie handy. This cute little guy will go with you anywhere, and happily remind you to embrace your inner geek, do nice things for people just because, and always be awesome.

7. Mass Effect Omni Blade (Unicocustoms via Etsy, $180)

Listen, if you're a fan of Mass Effect, and you DON'T want to buy this Omni Blade, go get your head checked. This is one of the most amazing cosplay pieces I've ever laid eyes on. These beauties are made of plexiglass and attach to the user's arm with velcro. They appear to glow under normal lights and have a definite glow under black light (watch a video of the product's details here). This is a must have for anyone's Shepard cosplay.

6.Dr. Who Adipose Zipper Pouch (DisturbinglyAdorable via Etsy, $14.99)

Partners in Crime is one of my favorite Doctor Who episodes, and the adorable little Adipose children are partially responsible. They are the cutest darn things to ever come from love handles and they look even cuter on this zipper pouch. Use this pouch to collect one dollar for every pound that you lose on your diet, and then buy yourself something nice to wear when you've hit your goal weight! But please, do it without the assistance of alien technology.

5. POW! Comic Book Hair Barette (JanineBasil, via Etsy, $18.68)

I love me some old-fashioned comic book pop art, so when I found this Etsy shop I was in heaven. This POW! barette is sure to grab some attention at the next convention you attend, and looks as though it will match almost any outfit! Be sure to visit JanineBasil's shop to check out her other geek-inspired accessories.


4. Art of the Mass Effect Universe Hardcover book (Bioware, $40.00)

The world of Mass Effect is visually spectacular. From planet terrain to character details to spaceships, this trilogy will have you holding your breath through gorgeous cinematics, honing your sniper skills during firefights, and crushing on hot aliens for hours on end. Take a deeper look into all that Mass Effect has to offer by picking up this Art of the Mass Effect Universe Hardcover (it's the perfect addition to your coffee table).

3. Skyrim 8-Bit Dovahkiin (Animenace, via RedBubble)

Now, when it comes to RedBubble, my wishlist is never-ending. It was very difficult for me to choose one thing to include in this list, so I just picked one of my absolute favorites. This design features our favorite dragon-slayer as an 8-bit sprite, available to purchase on t-shirts, hoodies, and stickers. Now open an account on RedBubble and see if you ever get up from your computer again.

2. Serenity Independents Flag (Tfaw, $19.99)

You can't take the sky from us, especially when we've got our Independents Flag flying high! Be a Browncoat year-round or raise it at half-mast on the anniversary of the Battle for Serenity Valley to show the Alliance that we aim to misbehave.

1. Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Boxset (Amazon, $46.73)

A must-have for every geek collection! Read along as Scott Pilgrim battles seven of Ramona Flowers' evil ex-boyfriends in order to win her heart, despite the interruptions of his slew of ex-girlfriends. Bryan Lee O'Malley's awesome illustration and hilarious pop-culture references make this a really fun read, even for those who don't normally take part in the world of graphic novels. (Bonus: This box set comes with a poster!)

-Rachel

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The Bloggess book tour - This *totally* happened.

Last night I participated in what I'm calling my first ever LA "thing" (even though the event took place in Beverly Hills, but I don't think that's relevant).

Jenny Lawson, aka The Bloggess, aka hilarious woman, aka bringer of Wil Wheaton collating paper set out on a book tour this week for her newly released title "Let's Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir".

To my delight, and slight trepidation, she had an LA spot scheduled, and so I decided that I had to attend. I'm not a long time reader, but I am a huge fan, and it's not really my fault that I'm not a long time reader because she started her blog ten years ago, and I can't help it that her content is wildly inappropriate for teenagers even if I had discovered her corner of the internet when I was sixteen.

See what I mean? Not about the depression thing. The sex thing.

It's generally inappropriate for teenagers to read sex columns. Right?

So, armed with my audio book and the address to the Writers Bloc LA location, I set out in rush hour traffic snorting and screaming with laughter to Lawson's hilariously narrated memoir. As I inched along 110 North, my exit for 10 West slowly coming into sight, it occurred to me for the first time that I was in the car. alone. attending an event. alone. This is when I started to feel a little panicky and extremely aware of the fact that I hadn't been in downtown LA alone before (I don't care if I ended up in Beverly Hills, that's not the point!).

I was determined to remain calm and upbeat, because if The Bloggess could kick away her crippling social anxiety and intense fear of public speaking, then I could keep my fear of going place alone and feeling like a loser in check.

After circling the block once and running a red light at an unprotected left, I parked under my destination and walked confidently to the elevators while feeling so proud of myself for arriving early in spite of traffic. Once in the lobby I inquired as to where the Writers Bloc speakers would be that night and I was met with some... confusion and silence from the guy at the front desk. He asked me a few probing questions that I was unable to answer, and then he called for some advice from someone else.

It's times like these I'm sure front desk workers wish they didn't have to deal with the public. When you're on the phone it's so much easier to put someone on hold and then transfer them without their knowledge.

It turns out that my phone directions had taken me to the Writers Guild of America, West, and I wanted a different building that was about fifteen minutes away in Beverly Hills. I nodded and thanked the man, legitimately holding back tears while feeling incredibly stupid and more worried that I was going to arrive late and not be allowed into the book reading and Q&A with The Bloggess.

Juanita the Weasel, appropriately acting out my desperation.

Fortunately for me, and my bladder, I made it to the correct location in record time. Except then I got lost in the parking structure.

It was kind of poorly signed. There were indicators for stairs, elevators, and exits, but nothing telling me where to go to get into the building. (I realize that I listed 'exits', but those were vehicle exits, not pedestrian exists. Totally different.) I ducked into a stairwell and went up three flights, ending up on the roof of the parking structure. Completely baffled, I ran to the elevators that were on the opposite side of the parking building and rode them down to the first floor, where I was greeted with the worker who had given me my parking stub upon entry.

I stared at him confused for a moment, unsure of how to best phrase the fact that I was lost in a vertical building with no where to even go in order to get lost, when he kindly directed me to walk straight ahead and then turn right. I thanked him.

After a quick trip to the restroom and a cursory glance around the theatre, I took a seat in the front row, stage right, and hoped that Lawson would be seated in the chair on stage left (she wasn't). After some mild fidgeting and ultimately relaxation, The Bloggess herself appeared along with Soleil Moon Frye, the moderator for the evening, and a woman who was the head of the theatre. Brief introductions were had, everyone's clapping for Lawson drowned out the introduction for Frye (for which I felt bad), and then the evening was kicked off with Lawson doing a reading from her memoir.

They're not looking at me, but that's them I swear. Jenny Lawson

is the one sitting closest to the front of the image.

I've been listening to her narrate for the past few days, which has been entertaining enough, but to hear her read her own stories out loud and in person was a new level of hysterical that I didn't think was possible.

She paused to great comedic effect in all the right places, and I really could have sat and listened to her read all night. Everyone in the theatre laughed loud, and hard. I felt so comfortable with the audience, so many other people with full, booming and appreciative laughter.

Frye asked Lawson a few questions about her inspirations, her reasons for starting the book, and further information about certain stories within the memoir. Suddenly it was time for an audience Q&A, and my heart started pounding. Only two people stood up to ask a question and I felt stricken with fear that The Bloggess would feel down trodden about no one having questions for her. My mind raced, placing myself in her shoes and imagining how horrible it would feel to be up on stage, nervous and ready to bolt but drugged into submission, and watching as no one wanted to ask me anything.

(Update: It's worth noting that out of everyone who did eventually get up and ask questions, probably half of them expressed extreme nerves and social anxiety. There wasn't a lack of questions because of a lack of interest: more like, everyone in the room wanted to talk and ask questions, but we were all simply too paralyzed with fear. We were unified in so many ways)

I couldn't think of a single. damn. question. I mean, she's so candid and open that what could I even ask that she hadn't already shared? All I had were 'Thank You's for her, and so with sweaty palms and shaky legs and a pounding heart I walked up to the microphone and waited my turn.

This man shared a video of The Bloggess, which gave me the strength to even obtain 

this signed photo. It then, in turn, gave me the strength to go to the microphone.

It's kind of surreal to have the important people that are up on stage turn and look you right in the face and give you their attention.

I started out by thanking her for her coverage and candidness regarding mental illness, and went into a story about how she has inadvertently given amazing relationship advice to polar-opposite couples. If you're familiar with The Bloggess, then you'll know that she responds to her husband in the most baffling, and astoundingly hilarious, ways. It truly seems like a great method for keeping things light hearted and happy.

The audience liked my comment, and I received laughter. After sitting back down the woman in charge of the theatre (who happened to be sitting next to me) told me that she liked what I said.

Once the questions were finished everyone was rounded into the lobby to await the book signing. The line was incredibly long, so I stood off to the side and read The Hobbit. In the middle of the mix I almost banged faces with Frye, who told me that she, too, liked what I had said, and then asked me where Jenny went. I pointed to my right and smiled, then immediately remembered to say (more like shout), "I really liked you in your episode of Friends!" and she smiled and said thank you.

!!!

Almost a full hour later I was at the very end of the line and sneaking ever closer to the signing table. The kind people around me had invited me into their jovial conversation, and we were accidentally joined by Lawson's sister and niece. A pleasant bonus, to be sure.

When it was finally my turn, Lawson signed my audio book case and I immediately blurted out my story about telling Wil Wheaton about loving The Bloggess. Then I told her that at PAX this year hopefully I could tell Wil Wheaton about telling The Bloggess about meeting Wil Wheaton and telling him how much I loved The Bloggess.

...

She seemed to like my story well enough.

Whee!

I turned and walked toward the door holding my signed audio book in front of me like it was something about to explode. And by that I mean excessively carefully. It was only once I was back in my car that I realized two things:

a. I didn't say good-bye to the nice people that I was with in line.

b. I should have used the bathroom.

"The night's adventures aren't over yet!" I thought to myself, and then left the parking garage.

It was at this point that my phone decided it didn't want to locate me via GPS, so I just... drove down South Doheny until my phone decided to cooperate. I could have easily panicked about being alone downtown LA (Beverly Hills, whatever), having to pee, hungry, and with no idea how to get back home. But, I was on a Bloggess high, so I decided to ride out the wave of potential crazy and see where it carried me.

As luck would have it, I ended up going West and was dropped nicely onto the 405.

Probably one of my best nights ever.

-MJ

*Please note that the images that aren't taken with my cellphone were all borrowed with love from thebloggess.com

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Favorite Posts of 2011

Nothing quite like Link with a party hat and a horn.

Welcome to 2012! I am really pumped about the coming year, I know a lot of fantastic things are in store. But last year was good too! So, with that in mind, I'd like to share with you all my favorite posts from 2011.

They could be favorites because of the subject matter, because of the photos involved, or because I remember the mood I was in when I originally wrote the posts.

Either way, I hope you'll take a look through some of these.

Happy New Year!

------

Minecraft and the wolves within - so popular with the wolves, I have about fifteen

Exerting great power at work - wherein I brag about my computer skills

The story that lives - my heartfelt and emotional entry about the end of an era with Harry Potter

D&D, classic gaming and Lord of the Rings: a brief moment of sharing - brief and full of fun things, including photos of Legolas

The incomparable Wil Wheaton - my amazing experience meeting Wil Wheaton at PAX Prime 2011

It is fantasy journey time - adventures in Dungeons and Dragons, magic wand photos and a free downloadable background

Real life versus Fallout: What would I do? - ponderings on moral decisions in the Wastelands

Harvest Moon: Another chance (?) - loving ramblings about my favorite iterations of the Harvest Moon series

It's finally here! - my first ever vlog

Interrupting my troll slaying to bring you this blog - admitting that Skyrim had taken over my life

How do I become special enough to get invited? - the amazing Zelda room at Nintendo in Redwood City, CA

Skyrim internet roundup! - a small collection of my favorite Skyrim related internet creations

I sometimes long for simpler technology - mourning my inability to play with my NES zappers

Retro gaming will be current gaming if I have any sway at all - plans for my future children to start with the NES, just like I did

Hop in that elevator and be sure to put on a belt! - essentially a love letter to Toejam & Earl, the game my sister and I loved the most when we were younger

-MJ

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PAX 2011: Best ever? part 2

--This is part two of a long post regarding my amazing time at PAX 2011! Be sure to read part one for full coverage!--

So I believe that yesterday I promised full coverage of my Wil Wheaton encounter plus Link cosplay photos. Prepare yourself!

Sunday is the day of the PAX that I remember most clearly. Perhaps it's because I was only at the center for about five hours and therefore there wasn't a lot of time for too much to happen. I decided after open to close visiting for Friday and Saturday that I simply had to sleep in on Sunday. PAX is amazing but also incredibly exhausting.

The inexhaustible Robert Khoo inspecting Dark Link's black contact lenses. 

So, Sunday. I decided that this would be photo taking day, so Jacki and I wandered into the hall around 1:30/2 feeling well fed, well rested, and ready to take some fun pictures. That morning I had seen an update from Felicia Day via Google+ indicating that she was at PAX. I think Felicia Day is awesome and incredibly inspiring. I love The Guild and her blog and it would be really amazing to meet her. So I told Jacki that I wanted to see if she was still hanging around. I had been told earlier in the weekend that Wil Wheaton's booth was near the skybridge, and usually she's near him at conventions. As we made our way toward his booth, we were almost immediately distracted by intensely awesome cosplay.

Their costumes were so good, and they were very nice.

One girl dressed as Link, another dressed as Dark Link. Both excellent costumes, neither knew each other. They came separately and ended up finding one another and then hung out for the rest of the day. We waited patiently to ask for some photos of them, and were rewarded with pleasant conversation and a lot of fun images.

That's when something amazing happened.

I stood between the two Links, feeling excited at their costumes and pleased to be participating in such a great experience. Jacki snapped the picture, then started laughing and pointing at a person behind us who had photobombed the shot. I went to look at the camera, which is when someone said, 'Photobombed by Wil Wheaton, that's the best kind!' I was absolutely floored. My first time photographing cosplayers, my first time BEING photographed with cosplayers, my first time being photobombed, and it is Wil Wheaton.

Having the time of my life sandwiched between two Links. The cherry

on top of the best day ever could only be Wil Wheaton.

We all have a good laugh about it, then get the names of the Links so I could send them pictures, then Jacki and I go on our own way. It is then that I go, 'I want to meet Wil Wheaton and get a REAL picture!' So we head back to where we started. The line to meet him was pretty long, but we had friendly people to chat with, and the two Links ended up getting in line behind us as well. I wasn't feeling nervous at all, just excited. I read Wil Wheaton's blog and I follow him on twitter and Google+. He's entertaining and interesting, and seems like a truly nice guy.

I've been feeling particularly happy toward him ever since he posted a video (shown below) of TheBloggess (if you don't read her blog, you really really should) giving a talk about preparing for the zombie apocalypse.

Please watch it. You won't be disappointed.

Did you watch it? OK good. I am that third person. Sometimes I flat out don't feel like doing things, but other times I'm too lasjdflijaldjfljadf to do the things that I want to do. It's a thing that I've been working on lately, and I have had a lot of help and encouragement from Andrew (he's wonderful). This video was one of those moments that resonated with me. I wanted to thank Wil Wheaton for his interesting blog and also for posting this video and helping me to do the things I wanted to do.

When it was my turn to meet him and say hello, I was suddenly incredibly nervous. I approached his table and stared wide eyed, a smile on my face. He looked up at me politely, waiting for me to say something.

"Hello. ... It's really nice to meet you. ......................My name is Miranda."

I am so sorry for my derpy face.

From there Jacki took a photo of us together, and then a few more of us talking. I have to apologize for my face in the picture, apparently it forgot the memo that I was supposed to look happy. I can't control my face, it just does whatever the hell it wants. But anyway, I told him how much I enjoyed his blog and that him posing that video of TheBloggess really helped me, and that I probably wouldn't have even gotten in line to meet him otherwise. He was very gracious and kind. Among the books, posters and shirts he was selling, he also had prints that you could get signed. I decided that I needed to have the image of him collating paper that he sent to TheBloggess (hilarious).

This is getting framed and put above my bed.

He signed it for me, remembered my name (and spelled it correctly!) and then sent me on my way. The man next to him told me "$20" and I go, "Oh I thought signatures were free!" and he says, "They are, but the prints are twenty", and I go, "Oh. Oh oh oh! I'm sorry!" I was completely bewildered and star struck and overwhelmed and not paying attention, and then Wil Wheaton goes, "It's OK, you can have it" and smiles and I go, "Really? Are you sure? Thank you thank youthankyou!!" and then stumble away with Jacki asking if I was going to cry. I almost started to cry, so we left.

A photographer from the Seattle P.I. was taking their photos,

so I snuck a few of my own in while they posed.

Friday and Saturday are such a mis-mash in my head still, I can hardly pick out individual instances. I remember playing Skyward Sword at some point, and that was pretty cool. I don't currently own any wii motion plus games, so Zelda was my first experience. It's so much different from what I expected. The motions are incredibly specific, which I am not used to. At the end of my ten minute demo my arms were beginning to feel slightly fatigued from all of the slashing and punching motions. I fully anticipate developing Zelda arms once the game is released in November.

There were some really great new aspects of gameplay, a welcome change from how familiar Twilight Princess felt even as a new title. I was thankful for the long forgotten feeling of total confusion in a Zelda environment. I chose to play the dungeon demo and there was so much to get accustomed to. One of the first things I noted was the ability to shoot down the giant spiders. In previous titles you simply had to wait for them to turn their bellies toward you, then you could slash them. In Skyward Sword you can use the bow and arrow, or the new flying beetle item, to cut their strings. Once the spiders are on the ground they are completely invulnerable except for a gem spot on their undersides. Getting to their soft spot requires specific upward sword slashes, which I found difficult to perform. If you get them on their backs you can then pull off a rather awesome finishing move that involves jumping and stabbing. I was impressed.

Jacki holding our cotton candy from the Kirby room!

I think it really adds to the ambiance here.

My extremely long wait time to experience Skyward Sword and subsequent stumbling around in a level rewarded me with a Skyward Sword/25th Zelda Anniversary lanyard. I do so love good swag. I also had an opportunity to play Mario Kart 7 as well as Super Mario 3D Land. Mario Kart felt the same as the previous DS offering, except the addition of optional 3D. It was fun enough, but I'm not sure it'll be a title I feel the need to buy. Super Mario 3D Land was amazing though. A beautiful cross between Mario 64 and Super Mario 3, the environments were puzzle laden and challenging, comfortingly familiar at its core, but still very fresh. I played the demo level with the raccoon tail present, a power up that I have always loved and sorely miss from recent iterations of the series.

I found it peculiar that the power-up item is the brown leaf again, but it turns Mario into the whole suit, much like the Tanooki suit. But, you don't turn into a statue, or at least I couldn't figure out a way to do it. Sort of perplexing. If it were just the raccoon suit then it would only be ears and a tail, right? Oh Mario, you'll never stop making me think about you. Either way it is a definite buy once it is released.

Two of my three purchases from Sanshee. Jacki and I bought these both (we 

really enjoy matching one another <3 ). The right image is earrings, by the way.

As a closing thought, I'm going to mention Sanshee, a really excellent company that has been in business for about two years. They started on the east coast and now do conventions all over the US. Their products are incredibly awesome and clever, and their designer and (one of the) owner(s) are super nice and thankful! Jacki and I went back to this booth four times I believe. The first time we just wanted to look at the wares, but upon closer inspection we realized that we needed the items. This shirt in particular I fell in love with. Hard. And then my heart was ripped out when I was told that it was a preview and the shirt would be for sale on the website in about a month. My credit card is quivering with anticipation. 

Rockin' it. Although wearing it makes me

drink more soda. Hm.

Instead, I opted for this excellent Nuka Cola shirt. I love it I love it. Considering my long-standing affection for the series, and the fact that I finally started playing Fallout 3, I am beyond thrilled to have a garment to reflect my feelings. Jacki and I purchased multiple items from them and had a few very pleasant conversations with Arty, the designer and one of the owners. What a pleasant fellow! When asked if they would be returning to PAX next year, he said yes. We were very happy about that. I encourage people to check out their website, the shirts are really grade A. Also, any Pokemon fans will be thrilled to see these. I can't wait to see what new products they release!

Oh, one more thing. We all know that I love Minecraft, and Mojang (the company that does Minecraft) was present at PAX this year. What's more is that Notch (creator of Minecraft!!) was at PAX as well! I had a pipedream of getting to meet him and thank him for his game. I also wanted to tell him how Andrew and I used it as a way to 'hang out' while I was in Ireland for three months. It really helped the distance to feel less... huge. I checked at the Mojang booth multiple times each day, but no luck in finding him. On Sunday I ended up at the booth one last time before closing and happened to meet a guy that works for Mojang as a business something-or-other. I chatted with him for a few minutes expressing my appreciation for Minecraft and my woes at not finding Notch. He then ever so kindly directed me toward Jeb, a developer for the game! I happily bounded over to him and asked him to sign my badge, all the while telling him the same story that I would have told Notch if I had had the chance. 

Jeb, a developer for Minecraft.

I don't know what other people's experiences were for this year, but this was definitely my best PAX ever. Hopefully after reading my posts you'll share the same sentiments :)

-MJ

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PAX 2011: Best ever? part 1

--This has been split into two parts for its ridiculously long length. Part 2 will go up tomorrow :)--


It's certainly a bold proclamation. I have attended seven of the eight PAX shows (not including PAX East, which has been going for two years), and each has contained something truly wonderful. For a week now, even before the PAX weekend began, I have wondered what this blog entry would contain. Would it be long, or short? Would I have had such an amazing time that simple words would not suffice? Would this be a dread year, lacking in personal interests and I would be short on stories? And if fantastic things did happen, how would I choose which ones to share with everyone?

I sit here, hands poised over the keyboard and a mostly white screen staring at me. The week's passing has not eased the writing process. The wonderful truth is that many amazing things happened. I had what was probably the most incredible PAX ever. But why? Seven out of eight shows, and this one was the best in my mind? I suppose I'll start by examining why I believe this is the case. Don't worry now, it's a very simple answer.

Jacki loves Wicket. A lot.

Participation. That's it. See? I told you it was simple. All those years of attending one of the greatest video game conventions in existence and I finally started to participate. Every year I go and sure, I have fun. I play the demo machines in the expo hall and I attend panels and laugh along with the crowd. I stand in lines among my fellow gamers and I relax in the handheld lounges. But this time I talked to people. I engaged those around me and I got over my intense fear of I-don't-even-know-what. Of course it helped that my absolute best friend was there with me. She makes everything better.

As a result, I had an extremely memorable PAX. I had the one-of-a-kind social experience that almost a hundred thousand gamers have. A new friend everywhere you turn. What could be better? The tall man in line for a free ICO shirt, the friendly cosplayer in line for a signing. The amazingly talented and sweet female Link and Dark Link cosplayers who not only posed for pictures, but found us later and chatted with us. The developers who are happy to meet rabid fans, and the new vendors who are overwhelmed by their product's popularity. The incredibly kind man that is Wil Wheaton, the total strangers who welcome newcomers with open arms to play fun and complex board games. This was my weekend.

Wil Wheaton, in all of his dick cape glory,

signing a photo of himself collating paper.

You'll get the full story tomorrow!

I considered doing a run-down of each day, but that would take far too long. Plus, so much happened on Friday and Saturday that it felt as though a whole week had gone by and honestly I just can't remember everything. You will be given the highlights and spared the exhaustion! I don't have any particular order in mind, so I'm going to start writing memories as they come to me. I hope that's alright.

On Friday night I did something that I have wanted to do every year that I've attended PAX: go to a board game room and play with some strangers. I didn't care which game or who I was playing it with. I desperately love board games of almost every kind, and there aren't nearly enough of them in my life. I am beyond thrilled that Andrew and one of his housemates love board games because now they are becoming so much more present in my life. I always knew that playing at PAX would be a good time. The convention provides a monstrous array of games for attendees to check out and play, and many PAXers bring their own from home as well. The game that Jacki and I had the pleasure of playing was Battlestar Galactica.

Our playing field for Battlestar Galactica. I lost my presidency, which made me angry.

It was in that moment that I chose to reveal that I was a Cylon. It may not have been the

most tactical choice, but it felt good to throw the presidency thief into the brig. Mwahaha.

She happens to love the show, I have never watched it before. It seems right up my alley though, I certainly love Farscape, so I'm sure I'll give it a watch before too long. We played with some friendly folk, two were from the Seattle area and the other two were a couple from Australia. They were traveling all over the U.S. hitting various conventions over the past month. I believe they left for home yesterday, and I hope that they had a pleasant journey back! The game was really fun, but also fairly complicated. Although in my recent exposure to a bunch of new board games, it would appear that they're all complicated. Moreso than something along the lines of Monopoly (which everyone is familiar with). So long as all players can be patient, things will eventually get going. We didn't have the chance to finish our game, but we enjoyed what we did play.

Something that has always been lacking in my PAX experiences (that was very prevalent in other people's) is good free swag. If you're unfamiliar with the term, swag is free stuff received at an event. There are always swag bags, and occasionally they have something fun, like a toy or a d20, but for the most part I feel pretty 'meh' about the bags. After the weekend is over I invariably read about people who won great items in raffles, or managed to snag some super awesome rare shirts. I usually leave empty handed aside from the merchandise that I paid for. I don't mind though, because that merchandise is most likely a fun shirt or one of the newer books. Happy faces all around!

This year, however.... this year, I walked away with three supremely great and limited edition free shirts. The first one was a total accident. I feel a little badly about this, but after seven attendances I think I deserved it. My friend James and I made a beeline for the Sony booth first thing on Friday morning. We heard from our friend Jake that Sony was giving out ICO shirts at 10:30. I may go so far as to say I'm a 'die-hard' fan of the Team ICO games, so I had to get in on that. While we stood in the monstrous expo hall attempting to piece out where we needed to go, vendors started excitedly urging us to play Resistance 3.

Is it just me, or does faded orange seem like a strange color for this?

If anyone knows me, they will know that I am not an FPS fan. I am terrible at them, and they're too violent for my tastes. But, I was at PAX, so what the hell? James and I shrugged and walked up to the rows of empty demo machines. I picked up a controller and thought, 'I don't even know which buttons do what.' The round started and I experimented with each button, figuring out scope, shooting, grenade and duck. Before I could finish all of the buttons I was killed by the opposing team. 'Oh well', I thought to myself. I hit respawn and continued mapping the rest of the controller. BAM, I was dead again. I laughed to myself and went, 'Well at least I know how to play now'. I respawned again and aimed at the first enemy I could find. I had already forgotten which button I needed, accidentally threw a grenade at a teammate, then was killed again. I shrugged and looked at James, who didn't appear to be having much more luck.

The round was then over and we were corralled to the other side of the display where we were told to line up for t-shirts. Again James and I looked at one another and shrugged, then got in line. We were given what turned out to be extremely rare (only 100 given out for each day) Resistance 3 t-shirts. They had a small option, which astounded me, and it's actually a very comfortable shirt. I like it.

More exciting though, and less serendipitous, were the ICO and Shadow of the Colossus shirts. I stood in line by myself for the ICO shirt, and chatted up a very tall man in line behind me. The announcer reminding people that they were giving out shirts at 10:30 kept pronouncing ICO as 'ee-ko', and I am fairly certain it is pronounced 'eye-ko'. I used this thought process to strike up the conversation, and we were well entertained during the wait. The ICO shirt ended up being bright orange, which was weird, and the smallest size available was medium. A bit of a bummer, but it appears to have shrunk a tiny bit in the wash. I will wear it either way.

The Colossus shirt is actually greenish in color, and the ICO is orange.

The colors are all out of whack from my phone! Apologies. Also, the font

on the ICO shirt reads, 'Never let go.'

Saturday had Jacki and me lining up at Sony for Shadow of the Colossus shirts. The line was positively astronomical. By the time we were up to the front they were out of mediums! I grabbed a larger size anyway, and one of the vendors said they'd be giving out shirts again at two. Jacki and I lined up again, and the second time around I managed to snag a medium for myself! This ended up working out very well because I was able to give the larger shirt to Andrew. I love happy endings.

For tomorrow: read all about our encounter with Link and Dark Link cosplayers, which lead to my insanely awesome opportunity to meet Wil Wheaton! PLUS, chatting with a Minecraft developer and the new online shop that Jacki and I are in love with. All that, and so much more.

-MJ

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The incomparable Wil Wheaton

Today has been nothing short of surprising and amazing. The whole weekend has been incredible, so I didn't think anything more could happen to make things even better.

Enter Link and Dark Link, impressive cosplay females that we saw almost first thing upon entering the center. We stopped for fangirl moments of praise and some photos.

Then, something wonderful happened: Wil Wheaton photobomed the photo of me with the Links. You can see the top of his head, one wild eye, and his highly identifiable dick cape.

After this we decided to follow him so I might get my badge signed, and we discovered him at his booth, meeting fans and signing things. We hopped in line and before I knew it, I was talking to Wil Wheaton.

I stuttered a hello and introduced myself, then began to tell him how much I enjoyed his blog. I also thanked him for posting the video a few weeks ago of TheBloggess's inspiring speech at a convention in Utah about being "furiously happy".

He was so fabulous and friendly, down to Earth and comforting. It was such a pleasure to meet him. I walked away with a free signed print of him collating paper (should have cost me $20 but I didn't realize they cost money and I was so nervous and flustered and inspired that he was super kind and gave it to me free. Thanks again!!)

What a superb day.

-MJ

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