B is for Blog Posts,100 of Them



Achievement unlocked!
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It's my 100th blog post on Gurl on Girl-Gaming!!! I've been looking forward to and dreading this post all week. I'm excited that I've stuck with this blog this long and that my views and readers have grown; thank you all so much for reading and commenting. But, now since it's the 100th post, I've built it up in my mind that it needs to be the most amazing post ever. Well, after stressing and cringing and whining to myself all morning, I've accepted that this will probably not be the most amazing post ever. I wanted to do something fun like a prize giveaway, but seeing as how I just paid my taxes and my rent, I don't have any money to buy something cool for a giveaway, and I don't have sponsors to give me something cool to give away, so you're stuck with just reading my words.

Today is Tax Day, but it is also the day that Jenny Lawson's book Let's Pretend this Never Happened (A Mostly True Memoir) is released! I pre-ordered my copy early this year and got an autographed book plate for pre-ordering.  The book hasn't shipped yet (curse you B&N) but hopefully it will get to me before the end of the day, because Jenny will be kicking off her book tour here in NYC tonight, and I intend to stalk* her after work. She's a hero of mine and she really helped me come to terms with some of my inner demons plus she made me laugh through the hard times. If my book does not arrive today before it is time for me to go to the bookstore, I have a back-up plan: I want her to sign my anxiety medication bottle-it's something I think she would appreciate. But, really, I'm just excited to get to talk to her, even if it's just for a hot minute. Ok, starting to freak out a little...

This post may have been a little uneventful and anticlimactic for being the 100th post, and it wasn't really about video games, but it sounded better than listing 100 random things or doing something else with the number 100.  But it IS about me geeking out getting to see The Bloggess herself tonight in person! How appropriate that my 100th post should fall on the day I get to meet my blogging hero and start reading her book.

So excited!!!
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*I guess it's not really stalking if she and the bookstore have made it publicly known that she will be there.

A is for April, the Month of My Birth: or Reliving Childhood One Letter of the Alphabet at a Time (A-Z Blogging)

Note: OK, I know I'm a little late to this party and I'm not officially on the list.  I was super distracted with PAX, but I think the A-Z April blogging challenge is a great activity, especially since I've been suffering from writer's block recently. So, here it goes...

Both my younger sister and I were April babies, but my mom always made sure we each had our own birthday parties so that we would each feel special on our respective "big days." Growing up in Colorado, we often had to have indoor birthday parties-April was usually still a little too chilly/windy to have outdoor birthday parties.  We were always jealous of our friends who had summer birthdays, they always had pool parties or beach-themed parties at the reservoir. My sister and I wanted so badly to have a water-themed birthday party in our yard, but April was just too chilly or unpredictable weather-wise to plan an outdoor party. The worst year, was the year we got Crocodile Mile as a present. It was absolute torture to get such an awesome, epic toy and have to wait 2+ months (2 months = forever in childhood time) to use it because we had to wait for the weather to warm up and hope there wasn't, you know, a drought or anything.

Curse you Colorado and your arid alpine environment!
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Despite being forced to have indoor birthday parties, my mom was never deterred (or at least never showed signs of being so) and always had a creative way to make our parties fun. My two favorite parties as a kid were my 6th and 8th birthdays. The year I turned 6, I was far too mature for Showbiz Pizza, there was an even bigger better, more sophisticated place in my 5-going-on-6-year-old mind that was just down the road in Cinderella City Mall: Funtastic Nathan's* (yes it was probably as much of a death-trap as it looked like.) After 6 years of planning birthday parties for me and my sister, I think my mom was thrilled to let Funtastic Nathan's do a lot of the work. All she had to do was provide the awesome Batman birthday cake. 

Mom delivered.

 Birthday number 8 involved Beauty and the Beast cosplay, puppets, and some awesome impromptu decorations provided by my awesome mom.  

Cosplay back when it was just called "dress-up"

Mom's decorations on the fly

  But, 8th birthday beats 6th birthday because it brought with it my favorite present as a child: my Game Boy.  Yes, I'm talking about the original 8-bit hand-held grey brick Game Boy, none of this fancy color nonsense.  And if you wanted to play in low-light or in the dark, you had to buy that plastic contraption with a light and magnifier that clipped onto the brick and made it even heavier. Heaven forbid you were tiredly trying to get that epic high score late at night lying in bed and your fatigued hands give out and the brick hits you square in the face.  That'll learn ya.

Yup, it felt about like getting hit in the face by this.
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While I'm certain I had more than 3 games for my Game Boy, the ones I remember playing the most were Tetris (bundled with the Game boy,) Paperboy (my favorite,) and Barbie: Game Girl (Nintendo's sad attempt at appealing to girls, and Mattel's sad attempt at getting in on the growing video game industry.) I would like to point out that the Barbie: Game Girl game was ridiculous. It was a platformer of Barbie shopping in the mall for all the items she needs for her big date with Ken while fighting off flying fast foods-I am so not even joking. And don't get me started on the mini-games in between levels: memory matching puzzles with perfume, diamonds, and makeup. *Gag*  The only reason I tortured myself to play this game was because I was a budding completionist and I'll be damned if I was to be beaten by Barbie. 


Yeah, I showed this beeotch who's boss.
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 And the moral of the story is: writer's block defeated.  By the alphabet.

*For any Coloradans who are old enough to remember, Funtastic Nathan's briefly became Nathan's Flying Circus after the demolition of Cinderella City Mall, then Funtastic Fun, and its current incarnation is Lollipop Park.
Nathan's: giving children communicable diseases, tetanus, and motion sickness for 19 years and counting!**



** I had many fond memories at these establishments. Please don't sue me. 

Look at those happy children.  They are clearly enjoying playing on the giant Do-Not-Sit-On-The-Bear bear.

Overcoming Post PAX Depression

As we all exhale a deep sad sigh whilst trudging back to the daily grind that is "real life," the joyful high we all felt among our own kind for 3 days has started to dissipate and now Post-PAX Depression (PPD) has set in.  What is a nerd to do?  The Monday after PAX is like the day after Christmas: everyone goes home from their holiday travels with lots of great memories, warm fuzzies, shwag, and exhaustion. They also probably go home with a case of the blues-the sadness that creeps in after the excitement dies down and you realize you have to go back to boring daily life.  As someone who is already prone to bouts of clinical depression PPD can be especially tough on me, so I've complied a list of suggestions for coping with PPD.

-Pictures/Videos
If you took pictures or video, go through them in chronological order and remember all the awesomeness you witnessed and/or took part in. Or got to sites like G4, Flickr, The Escapist or any of your favorite nerd-lebrities who may have uploaded goodies. Relive the memories for a moment and maybe stumble upon stuff you missed.

-Don't Despair
PAX is popular.  It's not going anywhere, it will be there next year. Also, if you missed something you were dying to see, it's ok.  No one can see or do everything that every con has to offer.  It's not possible, and you are not Superman/girl, and that's ok. That's the beauty of the internets, you can see stuff you missed.

-Your Routine is Your Friend
It may not sound like it, but the sooner you get back into your daily routine, the better you'll start to feel post PAX. I, too must return to my crappy desk-monkey job that I am working hard to abandon. But, keep looking at the road ahead, keep working towards your goals in life. 

-Try Something New
Two words: Beta Codes. Everyone got these at PAX, go play a new game! You'll feel good.

-Water, Vitamins, Sleep, 
If you spent time inside a big convention hall with thousands of strangers and erratic temperature changes, then you most likely came home with a case of the PAX Plague. Feeling sick while coming down from the high of PAX can make you feel even worse.  Treat yourself right: get plenty of rest, drink LOTS of water (clear pee is happy pee), pop some vitamin C, and make a small change in your diet-get some leafy greens in your body if you don't already eat your veggies regularly (convention food doesn't make anyone feel good.)

-Keep in Touch
E-mail, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, forums, XBOX Live, PSN, Mii Plaza, etc-they are all your tools to stay in contact with all of your new friends/connections.  Use them, but don't abuse them (nobody likes a facehugger...or do they?) Remember, you are not alone in your feelings.

How else do you battle the post-PAX blues?

PAX Day 3 and Post-PAX Depression

The final day of PAX East is always a little sad, but for me it was even sadder this year because we couldn't get 3 day passes. Here's my final installment of PAX East 2012 Chirpstory.
(Here if you can't view it below)

I want to give a huge shout-out to all the folks I met at PAX East who let me interview them on camera, you guys all rock my world! The videos are in the works.
Major Thanks:
Cassandra
Elizabeth
Evan
Garrett
Handelabra Studio
Jeremy Handel
Laura
Lukewarm Media
Margaret
Michelle
Misty
Popcannibal
Rana McAnear
Ravelry
Sarah
Sarah the Enforcer
Simone
Steve
Susan Arendt
Thoseguys
Thunder Tech
And thanks to the countless people and cosplayers who let me take their pictures! PAX East was a blast! 

P.S You can now find me on Giant Bomb!
P.P.S Videos coming soon, I promise.

PAX East Day 2 Chirpified Overview

I'm enjoying this new Chirpstory app.
(If you can't see it, go here.)



Preview of what's to come: Jeremy Handel from Handelabra Studio, the developers of the new iOS game Uncle Slam was kind enough to let me interview him. The game is pretty damn fun and their booth was a blast.

For more PAX East 2012 pictures, check out my GurlNxtDoor Facebook page.

I Have Returned!



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PAX East was amazing this weekend!!! We had a ton of fun, met a lot of great people, and saw so much. The only thing that could have made it better was if we were able to get 3-day passes. Yes, Boyfriend and I dropped the ball and did not buy our 3 day passes before they sold out. However, we had 2 awesome fun-filled days that ended way too quickly.  We battled minor technical difficulties, sleep deprivation, crowds, and my social anxiety but we got some great footage and some amazing interviews with people this weekend. I am very proud of us and our first venture into video blogging. Now begins the tedious editing process. We will work very hard to get the completed videos up before the end of the month.  I did some good networking this weekend as well and met some really fabulous people.  My goal for next year is to be eligible for a media pass. 


Felicia Day calls her videos her "flog" (Felicia + blog = flog) I was thinking about it last night, and think I shall make up a name for my own blog/videos. I now dub this website the GoGG Blog. Gurl on Girl-Gaming = GoGG; Blog + GoGG = GloGG? I dunno, I'm still working it out. Interwebs math is hard.


UPDATE: Ok so I just did some research into the requirements for a media pass to different cons for future reference, and they seem pretty standard.  Then I went to the IRS website to see how to go about filing myself as an LLC to make myself legit. So it's official and shit: Gurl on Girl-Gaming (a fictitious entity of BDG Productions) is recognized by the IRS (in 5-6 business days) as a real business entity! Tremble before me and my legal documents!  Now I just need to file with the state of NY. Boo.
#GoodbyeMoney

Chirpified PAX East Overview

I stumbled upon this website today called Chirpstory.  It's a neat little app you can connect to your Twitter feed and create a chronological "story" of events and conversations.  I'm testing it out. I made a PAX East 2012 story. I thought it would be a better overview or more interesting than sharing the blurbs from my journal and trying to explain them. (If you can't see the images you can go here.) I'll set the scene for you: Boyfriend and I left Thursday night for Boston via bus, but on my way home from work to get my suitcase, I was walking past Central Park listening to the Nerdist podcast with Rob Paulsen and Maurice LaMarche and a pigeon shat on my chest.



P.S Chirpstory isn't paying me, I just thought it was neat and wanted to share.