Geek Bunnies

Hello everyone! First of all, I’d like to acknowledge that is has indeed been exactly a year since I last posted a blog. Oops, sorry about that.

Secondly, since Gen Con Indy (www.gencon.com-The Best Four Days in Gaming!) is coming up this weekend (Thursday-Sunday, August 14-17, 2014), this is technically my pre-Gen Con post. However, it’s not what I’m going to be focusing on. No, that’s another thing entirely, which leads me to…

My main point, which is… bunnies!

To be more specific, Giving Bunnies. www.urbanthreads.com/bunny

In short, the idea is that you make these little stuffed bunnies, give them name-tags, and leave them places for people to find. Hopefully you brighten someone’s day, or bring a smile to their face. My lovely sister has an embroidery machine and found the lovely website and free pattern that I’ve linked to above. This gave her a wonderful idea.

GEEK Bunnies!

Her idea was that we make several of these tiny bunnies, customize them in geeky ways, and leave them around Gen Con, with my Facebook page (www.facebook.com/avitalelizabethwriter) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/avitalelizabeth) info on the back of the name-tags so we could know who found them (be sure to add #GeekBunnies!).

So we did. I started a list of possible characters to base bunnies off of (it grew too large, we had to leave a lot for next year) and we picked a solid list of thirty-one bunnies to make (this year!). We customized them with different colors of fleece (what they’re made out of), different thread colors, and many tiny accessories. I even knitted several tiny scarves!

Now we’re done with this year’s batch. Thirty-one bunnies are sitting upstairs, nametags attached, ready to explore the Indianapolis Convention Center and Gen Con Indy. Hopefully the recipients will share a picture so we know who got lucky and found them. Who knows, maybe it will be you!

PS-After Gen Con, I'll post an album of all the geek bunnies we made this year, in case you're curious!

Pre-Gen Con 2013

Yes, Gen Con is coming up. Yes, I’m going (my second time!) (all four days!). Yes, I’m wearing costumes (you heard me right-costumes. As in, more than one. On different days, of course). Yes, I’m dragging my boyfriend along (he’s actually pretty excited). BRING. IT. ON!

Excitement aside, I really don’t have much planned-just a few things I know I’m doing and a few things I might do. And that’s totally okay.

A Floridian friend of mine on Facebook recently asked for some advice on conventions. She said the Tampa Comic Con looked fun, and that she planned on going, but that she’d never been a comic nerd so she didn’t know how to prepare. I typed out a long comment response, and quite liked the way it turned out, so I thought I’d share it with you as a little advice for Gen Con (or any convention). Enjoy.

I haven’t been to a Comic Con before, but I have been to Gen Con Indy, which is a gaming convention. I was not a gamer at all before I went, but I heard that they had writing classes going on too, which is something I’m definitely interested in. So I went to some writing seminars, hung out with my friends that also went, and just walked around looking at everything.

Even if you’ve never been a comic geek (or gaming geek, in my case), they’ll have something that’s related to something you’re interested in. Just look at the schedule, see what’s going on, and check a few things out. Even if you’re not a comic geek, I’m sure their exhibit hall (where stuff is on sale) will be super fun to walk around in. They have lots of stuff that’s not actual comics for sale. So, just check out some stuff and have fun!

So that’s my last word on the subject of Gen Con (or any other convention): Check out some stuff and have fun! See you there!

I Am Not a Gamer-Thoughts on My First Gen Con

I am not a gamer.

Yes, I spent 80 bucks on a four-day pass for Gen Con Indy (the best four days in gaming!) this year (2012-the 45^th anniversary). Yes, I was at the Indiana Convention Center all day Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday last weekend for said gaming convention (my first time!). That’s beside the point.

I didn’t go to Gen Con because I’m a gamer. I went to Gen Con because I’m a writer.

It turns out that there’s an entire writer’s track going on the whole time, with classes and workshops on various aspects of the art and craft of writing. I obviously did not know this, or I would have attended sooner. Having writing seminars at a gaming convention makes so much sense to me!

I went to Gen Con for writing, so obviously I attended no more than three writing sessions per day. I wouldn’t have been able to fully absorb all the information given had I attended more. And using the time outside of sessions to actually write would have been too taxing, so the only actual writing I did during the convention was taking notes (and drawing up one RPG {Role Playing Game} character sheet). Anything more would have been futile (I hope you can sense the humor in my logic here, or I’m going to looking like a terrible writer)!

I am not a gamer, so obviously I didn’t spend hours walking around the exhibit hall, browsing the vendors, eyeing unfamiliar games, and drooling over gorgeous costumes pieces that were for sale. I didn’t get coaxed into LARP-ing (Live Action Role Play) for the first time, and I certainly didn’t wear a costume while participating in said LARP. I didn’t spend two hours cracking up while listening to Mikey Mason (http://comedyrockstar.blogspot.com/) sing some ridiculously funny songs about gaming. I didn’t lose my table-top RPG gaming virginity at an uproariously hilarious and fun sci-fi QAGS (Quick A** Game System) RPG that several of my friends (including some that run a gaming podcast! http://www.theestablishedfacts.com/) threw together on Saturday night. And I most certainly did not buy my first set of dice (they weren’t a very pretty blue, either)!

Oh, wait… I did all those things. Maybe I’m a gamer after all!

P.S. You can see my pictures from the con here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152046747425206.889314.627610205&type=1&l=ba7381675f