Geeking Out.
I'm pretty much terrible at being a geek.
Sure, I play D&D, I watch anime, I read copious amounts of fantasy and science fiction. I can name the secret identities of comic book superheroes who haven't appeared in major motion pictures and I have complete collections of several sets of Magic cards. I can tell the difference between Babylon 5, Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek, and Stargate without looking, and I can quote verbatim from The Princess Bride with all the rest. I own at least one sword and at least one fantasy costume that I have worn when it wasn't Halloween. I have in the past had my TV hooked up to a Dreamcast, Gamecube, Playstation 2, X-box, SNES, N64, NES, Genesis, Sega Saturn, and Wii at the same time, though right now it's just connected to a PS2 and a 360 (the Wii got moved downstairs so my parents could use it for Wii Fit.) I have a copious collection of RPG books and several times that many non-RPG books, on top of the huge piles of games. I once had a Jolly Roger on the wall above my bed, before pirates were cool again (and certainly before they started being a real threat to shipping again). I own dice with more than six sides and dice with fewer than six sides, but not a hundred sider or even a thirty sider--though I do have over a hundred dice in total. I can also tell you how many sides are on a die just by looking at the shape.
But there's one thing that makes me bad at being a geek, one deficiency that gnaws at my geek credibility.
I don't do conventions.
Conventions are where most geeks thrive. It's the one place where you can be sure that everyone else around you has something in common with you and is really not going to judge you for your unusual tastes in fiction or entertainment. They are the refuge and the meeting point, where new friendships are formed and old friendships renewed. They are where serious debates about the most effective method of keeping your dice rolling 20s are not laughed at--instead, suggestions from never letting someone else pass you your dice to making sure you let someone else use it once you roll a 20 so that they'll get the bad rolls are offered. They're where the ordinary geek can meet the authors and artists and actors and the other creative forces behind their favorite things, and enjoy with them a drink of Klingon ale. Conventions are geek paradise.
And I don't really enjoy them.
I suppose I've never really been to conventions plural. I haven't even been to a proper science fiction convention, having only ever attended Anime North. I've been to Anime North between three and six times, the exact count escaping me at the moment, but never to anything else. I haven't really even participated when I've been to Anime North--I've been to one or two panels on random things, but mostly it's just been hanging out with a couple of friends the whole time.
Part of the problem is that I'm somewhat shy. I'm not as much of a wallflower as I once was, but I'm absolutely terrible at joining into social situations where I don't know anyone. Part of the problem is that I really haven't ever had the money to go to anything farther away than Anime North, and I'm really no longer in anime's target audience.
Part of the problem is that I just don't know which cons are good cons to go to.
I think I'd like to get to a couple of good cons in the next year or three. I'm not averse to leaving Canada, but my budget is quite tight. I'm not averse to volunteering at the convention, either, especially if I can run tables of D&D to get in without having to pay, but I'm also not sure if that's the ideal way to experience a convention. I'd like to go to a party sometime where I don't feel completely out of place and get mistaken for a decoration.
Anyone know any useful information they can share?
Sure, I play D&D, I watch anime, I read copious amounts of fantasy and science fiction. I can name the secret identities of comic book superheroes who haven't appeared in major motion pictures and I have complete collections of several sets of Magic cards. I can tell the difference between Babylon 5, Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek, and Stargate without looking, and I can quote verbatim from The Princess Bride with all the rest. I own at least one sword and at least one fantasy costume that I have worn when it wasn't Halloween. I have in the past had my TV hooked up to a Dreamcast, Gamecube, Playstation 2, X-box, SNES, N64, NES, Genesis, Sega Saturn, and Wii at the same time, though right now it's just connected to a PS2 and a 360 (the Wii got moved downstairs so my parents could use it for Wii Fit.) I have a copious collection of RPG books and several times that many non-RPG books, on top of the huge piles of games. I once had a Jolly Roger on the wall above my bed, before pirates were cool again (and certainly before they started being a real threat to shipping again). I own dice with more than six sides and dice with fewer than six sides, but not a hundred sider or even a thirty sider--though I do have over a hundred dice in total. I can also tell you how many sides are on a die just by looking at the shape.
But there's one thing that makes me bad at being a geek, one deficiency that gnaws at my geek credibility.
I don't do conventions.
Conventions are where most geeks thrive. It's the one place where you can be sure that everyone else around you has something in common with you and is really not going to judge you for your unusual tastes in fiction or entertainment. They are the refuge and the meeting point, where new friendships are formed and old friendships renewed. They are where serious debates about the most effective method of keeping your dice rolling 20s are not laughed at--instead, suggestions from never letting someone else pass you your dice to making sure you let someone else use it once you roll a 20 so that they'll get the bad rolls are offered. They're where the ordinary geek can meet the authors and artists and actors and the other creative forces behind their favorite things, and enjoy with them a drink of Klingon ale. Conventions are geek paradise.
And I don't really enjoy them.
I suppose I've never really been to conventions plural. I haven't even been to a proper science fiction convention, having only ever attended Anime North. I've been to Anime North between three and six times, the exact count escaping me at the moment, but never to anything else. I haven't really even participated when I've been to Anime North--I've been to one or two panels on random things, but mostly it's just been hanging out with a couple of friends the whole time.
Part of the problem is that I'm somewhat shy. I'm not as much of a wallflower as I once was, but I'm absolutely terrible at joining into social situations where I don't know anyone. Part of the problem is that I really haven't ever had the money to go to anything farther away than Anime North, and I'm really no longer in anime's target audience.
Part of the problem is that I just don't know which cons are good cons to go to.
I think I'd like to get to a couple of good cons in the next year or three. I'm not averse to leaving Canada, but my budget is quite tight. I'm not averse to volunteering at the convention, either, especially if I can run tables of D&D to get in without having to pay, but I'm also not sure if that's the ideal way to experience a convention. I'd like to go to a party sometime where I don't feel completely out of place and get mistaken for a decoration.
Anyone know any useful information they can share?