Geeking Out (On a new Budget)

Looking at the entries I've posted, I want to make sure that this blog isn't all about being unemployed, and not at all about geekery. After all, It'd be easy to devolve into just whining about how bad life is (truth is, it really isn't) or carrying on with inspirational little stories that could have come from anyone. I want, occasionally, to write just about geeky things, and more often, to write about where geeky things and not having a job intersect, and how they interact. This post is gonna kinda like that second one.

I've been very fortunate to have in place a lot of geeky things that don't run me a whole lot of money, whether it means rewatching Dr. Horrible's Sing a Long Blog on Netflix streaming, playing one of the (many, many) boardgames acquired during my years at the hobby shop, or World of Warcraft. Lots and lots of WoW.

I know a lot of geeks are divided on the subject of WoW, but as I've been playing since open beta and when my wife and I were apart, it was the easiest way to spend lots of time together without lots of money, I'm definitely in the "pro WoW camp". Dungeons, levelling, crafting items, PvP, working as a team in a guild, and, yes... raiding (just killed Nefarian for 12/12 normal!) has been a lot of my gaming over the last 6 years. I spent a lot more going out to bars, and my wife and I have had a lot of fun. It may be a treadmill, but I know all the other hamsters.

Also, in the "low cost" geekery, I run several roleplaying (think D&D, not computer) campaigns for a group of friends, lately using the Savage Worlds system. We get together once a week (most weeks, unless schedule or illness forbids) have a potluck meal and I run an adventure for the group. Currently running Rippers (Think Van Helsing meets League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, if either movie was GOOD), Deadlands (Gunslingers, Zombies and magic in the Weird West), and Sundered Skies (Hrm... harder to explain this one... I'll go with "DDDDWWWWAAAARRRVESSSS INNNN SPPPAAAAAACCCCEEE!")

Luckily, my existing geek hobbies were fairly inexpensive for the amount of entertainment I get from them. I will set aside a few dollars to purchase Dragon Age 2 when it drops... more about that another day.