Ok, so. I spent a few hours this weekend trying to like Skyrim. Guys at work were super excited about it and it sounded awesome.

It’s been interesting.

It isn’t working for me in three main categories. All of which inspire the anthropologist in me. Now you know me, I live in the world of technology. I prefer sci-fi, fantasy adventure, or a good old action movie to romantic comedies.  I’m lucky enough to work on a team of incredible men, accepted as one of their own.  I think partly because they get how much I respect and admire them; partly because I can geek out and joke about the same stuff.

I mesh well with a dude-dominated world.

This game might just be a little too dude for me. I know this game wasn’t necessarily made for me. I’m not really the target audience. But if you’re a game company trying to grow your female market share; this one’s for you.

Here are the categories that aren’t working for me.

• The Character’s Appearance
• The World’s Appearance
• Stuff I’m supposed to kill

The Character’s Appearance

I don’t know about the rest of you ladies, but creating a character is basically like getting a makeover. If you can’t make the character look the way you want them to look, it’s a little disappointing.  I want to make the character someone I would at least like to hang out with if not emulate. I mean, I gotta hang out AS HER for the duration.  This game’s character creator is lacking.  I had to work at getting her expression to be something other than angry.  I’m not an angry person.  I don’t hang out with angry people. Does she need the vapid, pneumatic Barbie smile? No. Eew.  But how about friendly? Optimistically determined?

And let’s talk about hair.  I’m a girl who grooms.  Not the hours a day thousands of dollars a year obsessing botox groomer.  I try, though.  I get compliments…. Now, I get that it’s a medieval-ey setting where cute hair is probably not very realistic but….
Um, yeah. There’s also a dragon.
If you guys can imagine up a bad-ass dragon, you can imagine up some cute hair.  If you need a good example, Champions Online wins the gold. Why is that important?  Well, there’s the anthropology question!  I blame sexual dimorphism. In our society, one of the ways that is expressed is through girls having pretty hair. It’s part of how we attract a mate, you see.  And we, the nice ones, are in it to help our girlfriends out.  We can’t help but want our avatars to have the potential for a finding a really awesome, hot Nord dude. Or Dark Elf if you’re into the dark and spooky type. Whatever. We’re not going to judge.

And really, that part didn’t bother me THAT much. I made it work.  The character creation is always fun even if there aren’t a ton of choices. I do dig all the war paint choices and how much you can change the facial features.

Next Category: The World’s Appearance

The setting is (so far) sort of snowy, pine tree, craggy northern Europe-ness; and it’s not very colorful.  The buildings are cool, but again, not that colorful.  It’s less interesting when you’re running around.  I could run around in the towns more…but I find myself wanting to understand more of how the cultures evolved. I know it’s not terribly badass, but I wanted to run around the castle at Whiterun and understand why the leader is called a Jarl. If they live in this craggy place, what do they eat? How does the economy work? What ecosystem was responsible for the adaptive process which created the different races? Is there some quality of the light that makes the world washed out?  I know it wasn’t my video card.

But here’s what really got me. Stuff I’m supposed to kill

Ok, so I’m running through the woods to my first new quest city and along the way I see a couple of cute little hoppy bunnies and a couple of equally cute little foxes.  And I’m running along and I’m thinking to myself, “I know I’m supposed to kill those. I know my amazing boyfriend Dorzim and my incredible friend Indreju would do it without blinking… I’m supposed to kill those cute things for their hides. /sigh. But they’re cute. I don’t want to smash them with my iron mace. It just feels wrong.”  So I didn’t.

Sure enough, turns out I’m also on a secondary quest. A crafting quest to make an iron dagger which requires leather strips I could make if I had some HIDES. /sigh

But that isn’t even what is making this less than enjoyable. It’s the big stuff I’m supposed to kill. So I’m on my first, Go-through-the-dungeon-and-retrieve-the-ancient-powerful-thingy-the-Jarl-wants quest.  And what’s in the dark and scary tunnels?

Yep. You guessed it. Spiders!  /BIG SIGH

I had the Indiana Jones moment.  It had to be spiders. Big, realistic, squirt-stuff-at-you-spiders that you have to fight up close.

Ok, no problem. I’m tough. I can take it. I’ll at least TRY. Not every quest will have spiders, right? I’m with Ron Weasley on this one.

So I fight through the spiders,  I get better at melee (never my favorite); and find my way into the next part of the dungeon. And WHAT do you suppose is waiting for me there?

ZOMBIES.

Really? You’re gonna give me giant spiders AND zombies in the first dungeon.

Multiple zombies. Ok. no problem no problem, power through it. But I’m new at this, and I’m overwhelmed by three zombies at once and I die….

…and respawn at the very beginning of the dungeon, where I now have to kill that stuff all over again.  No way. Just because I really don’t like spiders and zombies doesn’t mean I want to fight them. Nope. Nope. Nope. Not going back through there again. That does NOT sound like fun.  Games are supposed to be fun, right?

What I’d like to know is – Why isn’t it fun?  If I were watching a movie with the exact same subject matter, it would be scary, but not as bad.

Sorry Skyrim. You lost me. And you might be losing other girls too.

First,  a word about provincialism. Dictionary.com defines provincialism as: narrowness of mind, ignorance, or the like, considered as resulting from lack of exposure to cultural or intellectual activity.

One of my favorite things is traveling the world and discovering things that are unique to an area. For example, diesel exhaust in London somehow smells good, and the tomatoes in Isreal are like candy.  One thing I’ve noticed about the Seattle area is the accepted practice of attributing provincialism to the people who live in rural areas just outside the city.  Even the people from those areas reluctantly or apologetically admit it.  Ok, not really unique. This is probably true of every big city. (Sure, I apologize for being from California, but I live in the Northwest; that’s just good manners)

So I had no idea what to expect when getting ready to help my friend from what she calls “Deep Duvall” with her 10 year high school reunion.  My friend is quite possibly the best person that anyone has ever met, so I didn’t expect anything bad, but…. I had recently been to my reunion.  Now, I don’t know what your high school experience was like, but mine was right out of a John Hughes movie – angst….longing…hierarchy…Aqua Net. It was the 80s.  At my 20 year reunion, not many people showed up. I heard that many people from the class met at a bar the night before and consequently were too hung over to care. There was an arrest.  I wasn’t there, I was having great food and better conversation with one of my very best friends. The present mirrors the past. #grateful

But I digress. Provincialism. Wake up Seattle. I call bullshit on Duvall smacktalk.

Everyone showed up except one person; and people were worried about him.  Almost everyone there stayed the whole time and everyone talked to everyone.  There was no clique-ey clinging to tables and surruptitiously glancing at people.  Hugs all around, everyone danced.  There was one man who sort of circled the room and didn’t really stick with any crowd. He was a big, tall,  at first glance, sort of intimidating guy. At my school and in the movies, this might have been a story that involved rejection, or worse,  and I was preemptively a little worried about him. No need. He didn’t need to stick with a crowd because he fit with every crowd. Every girl treated him like a brother. He was polite and kind to me.

EVERYONE was polite and kind to me…and I was the help! Perhaps I’m jaded from years of event planning, but in a crowd of 150 people you can always expect to find at least one who is rude to servers. And the odds of people saying, “Thank you,” to the lady at the desk? Slim. Not this group. Everyone said thank you. There were a few guys who seemed like they’d had too much to drink, and multiple people made sure they had rides home, or drove them home. A bunch of people stayed to help clean up and there was profuse thanks for my sweet friend and the committee who worked their tails off to make the event great.

It was clear, these people are a community. They don’t all live in the same city anymore, but it doesn’t matter. Even 10 years later, they are actively practing interdependence. They may not all be globe-trotters, but each could teach the world a lesson or two about how to be a good person.

I’m lucky to have met you all!!

I am so thankful to live where I am free. Free from fear – free to pursue my dreams – free to speak my mind – free to love.

When an American says that he loves his country, he means not only that he loves the New England hills, the prairies glistening in the sun, the wide and rising plains, the great mountains, and the sea.  He means that he loves an inner air, an inner light in which freedom lives and in which a man can draw the breath of self-respect.  ~Adlai Stevenson

Thank you especially to those who serve and who have served. You made this possible.

Have a wonderful time and stay safe, world.

Now where are the sparklers and the devilled eggs?

Dear GeekBombshell readers,

I’m sorry I’ve been away but the power trio of distraction has kept me from you:

1. Amazon Kindle – I have the app on my Ipad, amazing gift from amazing Dorzim and Indreju, and I have the app on my kick ass Windows 7 phone. It’s pure genius.
2. Anything by Cherie Priest – It started with Boneshaker, and then I got completely sucked in by Four and Twenty Blackbirds. I read it in one day.
3. Rift – Been Rifting with my peeps. I’ve got a level 16 mage named Prada. She makes bags and shoes.

Coming soon are posts about all bullet pointitude. In the meantime, feel free to send recommendations. I’m going to get through her entire catalog soon and then my reading time will be sort of cold and clammy until I find the next shiny objects.

They tolerate us. 

Some of them feel affection, eagerness, apathy. Some resentment. 

I work in a building filled with fascinating, cutting edge technology.  I say, probably too often, “I live in the future.”  It’s possible that I interact more with cool machines all day long than I do with people. That may be why this post is suddenly bubbling to the surface.

I work in the vanguard of technology, cocooned in Tomorrowland. I am comfortable and I am cared for by machines all day long.

• The tiny, but powerful gate-keepers check my badge like the watch-whers of Pern. The door will not open unless I prove myself; but when I do,  a cheerful beep, a green light, and a resounding thunk answer me. I belong.  I am welcomed. 
• The elevator comes when I call, opening it’s arms to me. Politely it’s buttons illuminate to acknowledge my request. Its arms close about me in an embrace, warm after the cold outside. I am transported.
• The coffee machine, when I input my request, chunks into action. It grinds the beans and brews me a fresh cup as quick as any barista. I am enlivened.
• My computer is smarter than me. I know this. It thinks faster, it is better at math, and learns me every day. It corrects me, prompts me, and is my window to all the information in the world. Even in my windowless office, I can see faraway places, discover the latest news, listen to all my favorite songs, converse with people across the globe, or just watch Bones. Holding it’s hands (or mouse & keyboard), I am inspired.
• The paper-towel dispenser in the bathroom. This post is really about you, little buddy.  Every day it waits patiently for me to wash my hands. At my barest wave, it offers me all it has to give: just the right sized paper towl to dry my hands. I carefully complete this, and put my towel in the garbage.  I am clean.  But when I walk past it to leave the restroom, it sees me, and again holds out it’s gift.  How can I not take it?? Poor lonely thing.

Perhaps it was R2D2 that taught me to see machines as sentient beings. Maybe it’s just years of sensing that if you talk nice to your computer, it WILL work better for you.  It matters not.

My advice is the same as always: Be Nice. You never know who’s listening and will appreciate it, even your coffee machine.

P.S. I can’t wait to get a Roomba!!

P.P.S. The Society of Self-Willed Machines is in the Apprentice Adept Series by Piers Anthony. I highly recommend.

Just a tasty morsel for those of you who delight in the misty world of astrology.
I LOVE my horoscope for this week!!!

http://www.freewillastrology.com/horoscopes/aries.html

Have a wonderful week!

Cheese platter, chocolate martinis, rock band… Yes, Virginia, there is awesomeness!!

I sit, in Christmas pajamas, full from breakfast, surrounded by the sounds of toys and happiness. Once again my cup runneth over because of the kind and generous people in my life. You are the bright, warm precious gifts that make this life wonderful. Thank you!

And to you out there in the land of the interwebs, thank you for making this first year amazing.  I wish you Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and all the Geek Bombshellery your hearts desire!

(I regret, dear readers, that my week has been too busy to complete this. But even the partial post may be useful. Ill try to finish this week!)

Folks, are you out there in the world, bombarded by the marketing of the season, wondering just what to get the geeky goddess of your life?

I LOVE gift-giving. I love the smiles on faces when just the right gift is given. I love the oohs and aahs at a beautifully wrapped gift.

Of course, the goal of a gift is to create or deepen a connection and to do that, the trick is to find something the person REALLY wants.
Sometimes, the gift is material, sometimes it’s just time spent together. Every person is unique.
Growing up in my family, we just asked each other. No need to guess. It’s pretty normal to hear us rattling off lists of things we’d love but haven’t bought for ourselves because we couldn’t or wouldn’t, or just haven’t.
I know not everyone is so easy to buy for.

My mother always made Christmas beautiful. I can’t WAIT to put up the Christmas Tree and put out gifts! (While John Denver and the Muppets is Playing!)

But I digress. Here are a few things I’ve found that might please the Geek Bombshells in your life. They are all (except Adventure) from www.Etsy.com which is a website completely devoted to selling items handmade by individuals all over the world. This is a wonderful way to support small business and reward creativity.

I’ve divided them into 4 sections, all very important things: Jewelry, Cashmere, Geekery, and Adventure. Enjoy!

Jewelry
Check out the finchbird shop on Etsy. The clean lines, and sort of stark cuteness of this shop is, I think, a great match for a Girl stretched between the feminine world and the science and metal world of technology. Ever since reading Atlas Shrugged I can’t help but think of Dagney when I see things like this. I think Dagney would wear some of these pieces. I’m especially enamored with the graceful, elegant little snowdrops.

Cashmere
I am a HUGE fan of cashmere. I’m allergic to wool generally so I’m limited in my choices for cold-weather gear and I never really embraced the Northwest’s love of gortex. Cashmere is heavenly. It is as warm as wool, but lighter, and soooooooo soft. Go to Etsy and search for “recycled cashmere.” There is something for everyone! Baby stuffs, man stuffs, teeny touches to beeeeg blankets!

Geekery coming soon

Adventure coming soon (it’s always around the corner!)

Have fun!!!

Today is the 45th anniversary of C.S. Lewis death. Rest in peace. Your stories have been my friends for as long as I can remember. Your philosophies have given me comfort and stretched my mind. I thank you.