This Side of Entropy

We were just outside Podunk when the Escapism took hold....

Stretched out over blankets and writhing in an exhausted pile with friends; half of us barely wearing anything, most of the men covered in war paint. The women blissfully giggle as they braided eachother's hair, and we banged on drums and passed around the rum and cigarettes like some sacred circle or indian pow-wow. We recited poetry, we exchanged embraces and we drunkenly crooned along with the music fading out of someone's phone.


Looking on at this pile of hedonism, would you ever guess that earlier we were debating Vampires vs. Zombies? During our poetry slam, one of my brothers in arms painted his face and told us how good it was to be a Sith Lord.We took shots of whiskey and rum out of syringes and other strange tools normally reserved for chemists. We played a few hands of Magic; we threw the Spock hand like it was gangsta.


I'm wanting to write something a bit off for SpeakOut with Your Geek Out. Many are taking to the "bloggosphere" to fly their geekflag and encourage others not to be ashamed of their nerdy pastimes.I guess you could look at it as a big "geek pride" event,with comings out of the closets (ya know, where we keep our Runebound collections) and all that good jazz.


What I'm contributing isn't a coming out story...obviously, I'm writing something on a gaming website. I've blogged about RPG's for years,I've owned my own game shop. I'm a pretty flaming nerd when you comeright down to it. No, what I'm going to post here is the truth that is seldom sung, even amongst the geeks: That being a nerd doesn't hinder you from a rock'n'roll lifestyle.


My time as a gamer hasn't been shut in the basement, it's been out in the open and living loud and it has lead me to many misadventures and crazy social situations in my time. And through these experiences -- both at the game table and away from it – the friends I've made along the way have helped culminate this sense of awesome revelry and a passion for life I've seldom seen anywhereelse. And this is important for me to talk about, because during mygaming hiatus this past summer I tried to deny my gamer roots. Only, it's lead me to realize it is part of who I am, and it hasgiven me more experience, knowledge and love of life (as in real life) than most people get out of any college or career.


So,for hilarity's sake, I'm going to open up a bit and share with you guys the things that I probably should be ashamed of about my gaming past, but regret none of it. It has given me so many stories to tell, and has honestly lead me to some of the bestest friends I've ever had; and a life so rich, I wouldn't trade it for the world. In no particular order.....

• I've Lived off a Diet Completely Paid for in EXP.
  In high school I GM'd an insanely huge Shadowrun group. Looking back, I'm surprised so many stuck around – I think we threw half the rules out the window just to have an insane campaign. People loved it so much that, for a summer, I was able to afford eating completely on the graces of my players. One of them was even a night manager at a local burger joint; our code word was "Hook Me Up Star Wars" and nightly we walked out with bacon cheeseburgers, "God Size" fries and chicken strips. Free of charge. For a whole ****ing summer.
• I've GM'd Games for Rent.
  During one of my down and out phases, I moved in and couch-dwelled in a house with a bunch of guys, whom to this day are still some of the dearest friends to me and I love them like brothers. The initial offer? I got to live there rent free as long as I pitched in on chores....and ran role-playing games every night when they got home from work and school. I think I pulled this off for a couple months of non-stop nightly gaming (one of the most epic Vampire chronicles I have ever had the joys of running.) When we weren't gaming, we were drinking, partying, and having a running rotation of hot girls joining us. We even made friends with a particularly awesome gal who happened to have gamer geek roommates (and she was a nerd herself) so our gaming circle got bigger. We also stayed up all night discussing philosophy (thanks to Mage: The Ascension and The Matrix films, which were new at the time.) Sadly, burnout hit me after a while, and they were sad the day I told them I had a job and paid them rent.
• I've Hooked Up at Parties Because I Could "Speak the Geek."
  Sometimes, making a Firefly or Star Wars reference at a party with strangers gets you blank stares at best, bad looks at worst. Sometimes the girl you're talking with says "...the spice must flow" and you find yourself having the upper hand over all the d-bags who couldn't grok the differences between River Song and River Tam.
• I've Seen More Nudity at The Game Table than The Bedroom.
  This may offend a lot of peeps out there, and I'm probably going to be crucified as a misogynist male chauvinist pig for bringing it up, but I've gamed with a lot of girls (and guys) – good looking ones at that – who are pretty comfortable with themselves and know how to shake things up. Granted, the flip side of this coin is I've met quite a few who do this more for attention, and I've actually had to ask women to put their tops back on so the game could continue. You may call that having priorities skewed; I call it being jaded.
• I've Successfully Suggested "Strip d20" as a Lead In To a Threesome.
  I think that speaks enough on its own.