Merry Christmas!

For Christmas this year, I thought I'd post in cliche:

'Twas the evening of Christmas and we all were sleeping,

To counteract the two days of huge overeating.

The stockings each look rather limp on the wall,

Now deprived of their filling - I got a huge haul.

Jess got me "Wacraft," as per my expectations,

Though I doubt she's considered the ramifications.

If you think of all of the time I'll be playing,

It's like buying her boyfriend a hooker - just saying.

As this rhyme scheme is quickly becoming a chore,

I think this is where I'll be cutting this short.

So I'll end with this message to nerds far and near:

"Merry Christmas to All...Cataclysm is here..."

Hopefully it was a good holiday for the rest of you. You'll have to let me know about all the fun stuff you got or consumed in bulk quantities. Until then, I think I've got another Christmas meal or two to make an appearance and lose my self-respect at, so I must be going.

Merry Christmas and Happy Nerding.

Nerdsgiving 2010!

Nerdsgiving went off without a hitch again this year. It was a time of fun, festivity and tolerance towards niche entertainment media such as anime, manga and video games. Judging by the blank expressions of the people who just read this paragraph, I feel I should explain.

Although I suspect its origins are much earlier, my girlfriend and I recently started celebrating Nerdsgiving last year. It's the one time of the year where we come together to do overly nerdy activities, no matter how weird they may be. For example, last year we watched the entire anime series "Akikan." Besides the fact that it was only in English subtitles, the plot involved fighting girls who transformed to and from cans of soda by being kissed for the purposes of determining whether aluminum or steel cans were superior.

That's not even a joke. That's the real plot summary of that series. But it does nicely illustrate my point - no matter how nerdy the anime, nothing is off-limits on Nerdsgiving.

In my relationship, I feel it's good exercise in compromise. Even if there are occasional scuffles over what we're watching on television, there are times when you just have to give up the remote. In mixed nerd and normal couples, there has to be a decent balance between video games and "Say Yes to the Dress."

Though, for the record, having a "Say Yes to the Dress" RPG would make everyone a lot happier.

This year, Jess and I enjoyed a marathon of science fiction movies and more mainstream anime. My eyes were a bit too tired to be reading through English subtitles. Not to mention, I think I had a hope we could watch something weird enough to top "Akikan." Sadly, as far as I know, nothing exists.

In any case, I wanted to bring the holiday to everyone's attention. For those interested in partaking in the festivities next year, all you need is a little junk food and some anime to watch. It traditionally occurs the weekend after Thanksgiving. It may span one or more days, depending on your personal tolerance and sleeping habits (or lack thereof).

So have fun, and Happy Nerdsgiving!

Halloween

Hopefully everyone had a happy Halloween - for everyone else, you're pretty much the reason I wrote this article today.

Throughout my later years in high school and college, I noticed a disturbing trend. There was an increasing number of people who declared themselves "too old" for the holiday. I'm not sure what confuses me more - the idea that somehow you could be too old to have fun and eat candy, or the idea that people would voluntarily refuse these activities.

I realize that my mid-twenties may be a bit old to dress up and go door-to-door. (It's a gray area.) But the rest of Halloween is still pretty hard not to enjoy. It's literally the most fun you can have on a pagan holiday converted into a Catholic holiday by church officials hoping to draw in heathens.

Seriously - if you can think of a better example, please let me know.

The idea that some people try to outgrow it is just sad, really. And there's a lesson there. There's no need to rush adulthood. Between having kids and working, your childhood innocence will be gone soon enough. Hang onto whatever shreds of it you can.

Also, um, candy is delicious, so is there some reason you're trying to get away from it? I mean, Milk Duds are pretty disgusting. But anyone who can't enjoy Mr. Goodbar can't enjoy life.

And for anyone who still doesn't agree, at least try not to be such a downer and ruin my All Saint's Day, too.