I'm Geek Of The Week!

Hey, I've been chosen as the Geek Of The Week over on BoardGameGeek! Thanks to my friend Alison George for inspiring the tiara and sash in the cartoon above.


For those that don't know, BoardGameGeek is a wonderful Web site founded in 2000 by Scott Alden ("Aldie") and Derk Solko ("Derk") as a resource for the board gaming hobby. Their database holds reviews, articles, and session reports for over 30,000 different games, expansions, and game designers, plus a community forum, marketplace, several online boardgames, and a gamer database to help gamers find each other in the same location. BGG recently launched geekdo.com, a new site which is now the parent to the already existing BoardGameGeek, and the brand new RPG Geek.

My favourite part of BGG is the community, which has over 250,000 users from all over the world. I've really enjoyed getting to know other boardgamers online and in person.

Some of you will be raising an eyebrow at this point and thinking, She's PROUD of being a geek? My more nerdy friends will understand why I'm so tickled at being given this honour. :-)


Above: At TABScon yesterday afternoon.

Anyway, being Geek Of The Week means people can ask me questions on BGG all week. Feel free to lurk (or join in!) in my GotW forum thread:

http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/470229

Meanwhile, I have to choose my successor. The rules: the next Geek of the Week can't be someone I know personally, and has to be someone on another continent. As I'm combing BGG for candidates, I'm once again floored by how international BGG's membership is.

Speaking of gaming, Jeff & I had a ton of fun at TABScon yesterday. You can see my pics from TABScon online. One of my highlights: gaming with Sonja, who was one of BGG's first Geeks of the Week (2005) and the first Canadian female GotW. I'm the second!

H1N1 vaccination

After talking to my doctor yesterday, I decided to get an H1N1 vaccination as well as a regular flu shot. So far I've only experienced one side effect: soreness and swelling at the injection site of the H1N1 shot. This morning, it feels as if someone punched me in the upper arm, leaving a bruise. Didn't sleep well last night as a result because I tend to toss and turn a lot, and the soreness woke me up each time.

Hopefully this shouldn't last more than another day or two. Totally exhausted today, so am going to crash after I finish my Market Watch column. To those of you who haven't yet gotten your vaccinations but still plan to, I'd suggest getting it on a day when you have the option of sleeping in the next day if at all possible.

Reached my 50,000 word mark in NaNoWriMo yesterday, woohoo! Will post more about that in Inkygirl.com later today.

I created the image at the top of this post years ago as part of an Illustration Friday project. A music group called The Stowaways used it as their CD cover.

National Cartoonists' Society Holiday Party 2009

Above: Brian McLachlan and Eric Orchard.

I've been going to the National Cartoonist Society (Cdn Chapter) holiday parties for several years now, and they're always a lot of fun. Friday's gathering was no different, with lots of chat about comics, books, publishing, illustration....and drawing comics, of course!



Above: Ronnie Martin, Aaron, Susan Adsett.

The party was held at the Bedford Academy. Great venue for the gathering, but the low light conditions posed a challenge for photographers who (like me) don't like using flash. I was grateful for my Sigma 30/1.4 lens but still found myself jealous of photographers who can look around and -instantly- know what settings to use. I used ISO 1600, set my Rebel XTi to shutter priority and then fiddled with that, depending on where I was in the room.

Ok, enough about the photography.



I'm still grateful to the ebullient Patricia Storms (above, raffling off her new book, The Pirate and the Penguin) for inviting me to my first NCS holiday party in 2005.

Since then, I've gotten to recognize more and more faces, and it's been great to catch up on some of their projects. Like Cathy Thorn's Cartoons About Women book, for example:



And chatting with Michael Cripps about his new webcomic, Grizz:



Sandra-Bell Lundy, creator of Between Friends:



Sandra was handing out Thing-A-Ma-Boobs to women at the party.

Hilary Leung and Peter Cook:



Naseem Hrab from Kids Can Press:



Naseem took pity on me during the raffle and gave me one of the prizes she won since I wasn't winning anything (Cathy Thorn even gave me HER raffle tickets when she left): a set of Templar, Arizona graphic novels and a cool pin. Thank you, Naseem!



Augh, want to write more but I really need to get back to my novel writing. I have 3,000 words to write today to reach my 50,000 wordcount goal for NaNoWriMo! You can see more photos from the party in my Facebook photo album. I also have a Flickr album, but the Facebook one is more interesting because the attendees have been tagging themselves and other people at the party. I just discovered that I took a photo of Kean Soo (creator of Jellaby and also assistant editor of the Flight books) and didn't even know it!

Anyway, if you have a chance to attend the NCS party next year, do come! It's lots of fun and a great chance to meet not only cartoonists but authors, editors and others in the publishing business, win cool prizes, and see Patricia Storms not be shy:


Above: Patricia Storms and John Martz.

Heh.

HUGE thanks to Patricia for inviting me in the first place!

Amazing video: Men's Rhythmic Gymnastics Team (All Japan Championships)

Had a fantastic time at the NCS holiday party last night but a report will have to wait until after I've finished NaNoWriMo. I still have 6,000 words to write before the end of the month!

Meanwhile, enjoy this mesmerizing performance by the Aomori University men's team at the 2009 All Japan Championships. Not surprisingly, they took the gold.

Why I Love Boardgaming: My Experience At BGG.con 2009

Playing Arkham Horror for the first time. Photo by Quinn Munnerlyn (Lothartvni). In photo: Eddie (bendy52) and Dave (daw65). Far left, partly obscured: Brian (bcooperok).

Contrary to what some people might think, boardgaming goes far beyond Monopoly and Risk. I admit -I- used to think boardgames were just games like Monopoly and Risk.

When Jeff started playing boardgames with friends on Friday nights, however, I discovered that the boardgames they played tended to be much more complicated. The idea of learning complex rules late at night didn't appeal to me; my brain starts melting around 10 pm. I am so not a night person!

This past weekend, I went to BoardGameGeek.con. I attended my first BGG.con last year and loved it, and this second convention has gotten me thoroughly hooked.



James Napoli (darlok) at BGG.con 2009 playing Dungeon Lords

One thing I've discovered: I actually enjoy learning complex games, as long as I'm fully awake. And at BGG.con, no matter how early I wandered down to the gaming rooms, there was ALWAYS people there playing games. Some may have been up all through the night, of course, but there were also morning types like me.


Playing Ghost Stories (White Moon expansion) with Savanni, Bay Chang (baychang), and Joe (quartersmostly). Lawson (corross) started the game but had to leave early for her shift in the Games Library.

It generally takes me more time to learn rules than hardcore boardgamers. Again, I'm not talking Monopoly-type of games. Explanations for some of the games I played at BGG.con sometimes took up to 20 minutes or more. I tried to absorb as much as I could, but I usually didn't reach the "AHA" moment until at least halfway through.


Scotty (otscotty) and Nancy Lynn

Sometimes, like in Race For The Galaxy, I never did reach the AHA stage. The RFTG pros I was playing with, however, reassured me that it generally takes several play-throughs to fully grasp the game.


Rich (cuzzle), Z (zontziry), and Tim (shippert) help Craig (interchange42) playtest Castelmar Courier.

By now, some of you may be thinking, "Well, if a game is that complex, then why bother?" My answer: because of the "AHA" moment. I like the mental challenge. It's sort of like those wire puzzles where you have to figure out how to take something apart of put it back together. It could take ages but there's a real satisfaction when you finally get it.


Playing Werewolf late one night.

In contrast to those kind of puzzles, whose novelty evaporates once you've found the solution, many types of boardgames then give you extra opportunity for more AHA moments as you learn more about strategy, plus there's the fun of the social interaction.


Zontziry ("Z") during a Zendo game.

I realize that I used to avoid playing certain types of boardgames because I was afraid I'd look stupid. Now, however, it's a fun challenge...as long as the other players are willing to play with a newbie AND you have someone who is good at explaining the game. And at BGG.con, I was almost always able to find both.


BGG founders: Derk & Aldie

Don't get the wrong idea -- at BGG.con, you could find a wide range of games. From party games to Rock Band to miniatures and poker tournaments to midnight Werewolf sessions...BGG.con had it all. Well, except for Monopoly.

I get the feeling that Monopoly is sort of the cliché of boardgaming. In one of my recent Cartoon Caption Contests on BGG, I was amused by someone replacing the idea of a "KICK ME" sign on someone's back with "PLAY MONOPOLY WITH ME" instead.

But hey, I'll play pretty much any type of game! The only games I tend to avoid are wargames and purely social party games (e.g. Scruples).


Mischa (rossum)

I went to my first BGG.con last year because Jeff had raved about the convention so much, and to see what all the fuss was about. I admit I was nervous; I wouldn't know anyone, after all, and was determined to be independent at the event -- getting together with Jeff on occasion to play a game or for a meal, but mostly meeting people on my own.

To my relief, it wasn't at all hard to find games. Gamers are a friendly bunch. :-)


Aldie (co-founder of BoardGameGeek) and Jeff.

This year, I had even more fun. Didn't think that was possible, really! Not only did I meet lots of new people but also had a chance to schedule games with friends I made at last year's convention.


My character in Arkham Horror.

Here's a list of some of the games I played:

Tobago - with Lisa (nightmare), Brian (stormnight) & Jeff. Rick Thornquist taught us the game.

At The Gates Of Loyang - same crowd as above

Race For The Galaxy - with Brian (fenners), Sean (sevenspirits), and Isaac (verkisto)

Zendo - with Richard (cuzzle), "Z" (zontziry), Tim (shippert) & Jeff

Castelmar Courier - same crowd as above, minus Jeff. This is Craig White's (interchange42) new game, which he was playtesting at the convention.

Ghost Stories (White Moon expansion) - with Lawson (corrida), Joe (quartersmostlt) and Bay Change (BayChang). Lawson had to leave near the end to do her shift at the Games Library, so Savanni (who had been watching the game) took over her place.

Arkham Horror - with Dave (daw65), Eddie (bendy52), Brian (bcooperok), and Quinn (lothartvni)

Bohnanza - with Ezra (ezradenny), Dave (daw65) and Cindy (scoutmom)

Werewolf - with a LOT of people :-)

Prolix - with Elizabeth (e), Scott (maccabbee), and Craig (interchange42). We were playtesting one of Gil Hova's (ingredientx) games. I really enjoyed getting the opportunity hang out more with Gil during the convention, by the way!

Manhattan - with Russ (russ?), Anna (a2na) and Nadine (ripresa)

Last Night On Earth: The Zombie Game - with Darryl (hostile17), Scotty (otscotty) & Nancy-Lynn, Kevin, Dean (cprkinx) and Dwayne (thevoid).

I'll be posting a more detailed review of the games themselves on BoardGameGeek when I have a chance (AFTER NaNoWriMo!).

Already counting down the days to the NEXT BGG convention:
November 17-21st, 2010

You can find a TON of great gaming info as well as a wonderful boardgaming community at BoardGameGeek. Feel free to add me as a GeekBuddy -- here's my Profile and here's Jeff's.

Photo by PurplePawn.