Social Misfits?

I've read quite a few blog posts and message board posts lately where the topic was someone overhearing some sort of derisive comment about folks who play D&D. I guess that I'm somewhat fortunate that I'm an IT professional and most of the folks in my career field have some hobby that would probably construed as a bit odd by other folks. I play D&D and collect comic books and listen to loud punk rock music. I'm pretty open about it. Well, I don't necessarily broadcast it to the entire world, but I don't hide it either. We have quite a few friends and host social gatherings at my home quite often. Unfortunately, there aren't many D&D gamers in my social circle and the potential gamers and I just can't seem to jive our schedules due to work and family. Perhaps it's because I work in IT, or perhaps it is because I have some published artwork, or perhaps it's because I'm also quite open about being an aging punk rocker, that I'm maybe treated with a little bemusement but not ostracized. In fact, most folks tend to approach me about it and ask (not in a condescending or mocking manner) about my hobbies and think it is cool. I think the combination of my interests has kind of given me a f*ck 'em approach to those that would mock me about it anyway. I suppose it doesn't hurt that I'm a big guy that looks like Grizzly Adams either ;)...

Comments

  1. The Happy WhiskMarch 1, 2011 at 1:04 PM

    Hobbies are fun. I never get people who have none. I wonder, how is it that they have no hobbies? Just saw the artwork you and your wife did. Nice colors. Nice work.

    Now ... I'm about to go make brownies. Happy Gaming.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Gothridge ManorMarch 1, 2011 at 4:09 PM

    Here, here Johnathan, listen to Blag Flag, kill some zombies and fuck'em if they make fun of your 20-sided dice.

    ReplyDelete
  3. XyanthonMarch 2, 2011 at 1:35 AM

    Hahaha, yeah, I'm glad I don't have to be faced with those situations where it would actually be detrimental to me career wise. Altough as I've pointed out, I work in IT so that's not much of a problem (even if you are a manager in most cases). People expect IT folks to be a little off I guess ;).

    ReplyDelete
  4. The Happy WhiskMarch 3, 2011 at 1:04 AM

    I work in an creative environment at work. They know Tim games and that our favorite place is the bookshop. Nobody minds. Besides, they all have open minds and fun hobbies. And boy, can those girls cook. Great stuff.

    ReplyDelete
  5. XyanthonMarch 3, 2011 at 7:18 AM

    Since I work for the Department of the Army in IT, the IT folks tend to be a little less on the traditional geeky side than they would in a civilian IT company. However, most of us are still geeks. Most of them geek out over military history, cars, video games, etc. They actually think what I'm into is cool. Outside of that realm, the folks my wife and I hang out with tend to be the outdoorsy type into hiking, skiing, ect. They don't game but think it is cool that I do. It has been a long time since I've felt stigmatized for it.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Neurodiversity and Dragons - the adventure begins!

Image
  Tl;dr: Kia ora all! I don’t often post much about my personal life, but as a parent of two neurodiverse teens, I reckoned that I’d post some of my experience in gaming here on our journey. My daughter was diagnosed with autism almost a year ago and my son is dyslexic/dysgraphia with ADHD like presentation. Both are incredibly bright and very different from each other (my son has lots of friends and is very bright and gregarious if also very lazy while my daughter is very retreating and shy but incredibly driven and motivated). They both love fantasy and fantasy literature, movies and gaming has been a way for us all to connect. Though often what works for one, doesn’t necessarily work for the other. This brings me to my point, I am working on trying to best accommodate the needs of my neurodiverse daughter and include her in an experience that she very much wants to participate in, but often feels frustrated and overwhelmed by. This is an introduction to our journey so far. ...
Read more

I like pie!

Cyclopeatron made an interesting blog post which I tend to agree with. Most conent posts don't get responses but opinion posts do. I've noticed the trend in my own blogging as well. There is some incredibly interesting content being generated out there in OSR blog land. I think folks tend to react more to opinion pieces because no one really wants to 1) either say your stuff sucks on a blog post or 2) only say "that's cool man". I tell you what, I cherish the "that's cool man posts", it at tleast let's me know folks are paying attention. As to the your stuff sucks, well those are OK too as long as they tell me why they think my stuff sucks so I know how to try and improve it. At any rate, I like pie. It even tastes better when I had to kill an orc to get it ;).
Read more

Vornheim: A Review

Image
So, I'm the kinda guy who likes quirky stuff. I listen to 70's and 80's punk and protopunk and postpunk. I like to watch Ray Harryhousen movies. I thought Amazon Women on the Moon and UHF are hilarious. I love indie and experiemental comics by guys you've probably heard of like Robert Crumb and Harvey Pekar and stuff by guys you might not have heard of like Brad Jones and Archer Prewitt. So why am I telling you all of this? Because Vornheim by Zak S. Of I Hit it with my Axe and Playing D&D with Porn Stars fame has put together a quirky little city supplement called Vornheim: The Complete City Kit . Vornheim is a slim, hard back book published by Lamentations of the Flame Princess (James Raggi). Vornheim is digest size with b&w interior. The cover has a removable dust jacket that has a map of Vornheim on the inside and a set of instructions to use the charts on the front and back covers of the book. Yeah, pretty much every surface is designed to be us...
Read more