Gen Con and Peter Davison the Fifth Doctor

Once every couple of years we make the trek up to Indy for Gen Con. That's at least four hours there and another four hours back; sometimes all in one day if people can't schedule to be off work. Now Gen Con is a pretty cool convention and has tons of things to do, but you had better come prepared to spend money. Most events cost money, on top of the $50 per day that you spend to get into the convention. However, if you are not there to play in every tournament you can get off without breaking the bank. If you are like me and my friends, then you spend most of your time in the exhibition hall. That's where the selling is going on. Companies from all over bring their best games to Gen Con. one of the nicest things that they do is let people demo the games right there. Mostly the brand new stuff and the very popular. It's really cool to test something like that before you shell over the $50-$75 for the game.

Aside from the games on sale, you will find sci-fi, fantasy, and anime dealers there with their wares. Collectibles, dvds, cds, costumes, and more are all on sale for your buying pleasure. It's a rare person that makes it through all the booths without buying something. I never make it. This year I was lucky enough to find several gifts that are stored away for Christmas. I'm sure I'm not the only one who gets Christmas shopping done at the con.

Gen Con also boasts media and insider guests of honor. This year the big names for the media were Peter Davison (the fifth doctor) and Walter Koenig (Star Trek). I will admit that the draw for me was Davison. I love Doctor Who and Peter Davison was one of my favorite doctors. I actually stood in line and got an autograph and picture with him. It was very exciting. The only problem was I was too shy to really talk to him at all. Besides he had a pretty long line of people waiting for their turn. I decided I would use this post to say some of the things I wanted to say to him.

A lot of people are kind of indifferent to Davison's doctor which I think is a real shame. To me he was one of the most memorable doctors. He's often ranked under Tom Baker with fans, but I liked him just as much and maybe even a little better. He was a slightly more serious Doctor, despite the celery on his lapel. While Baker talked his way out of situations by confusing his enemies and then out-thinking them; Davison often talked his way out of situations with honesty and heart. He was the best Doctor at being really good. I always felt like his Doctor really cared about and looked after his companions. He seemed like such a dad, always trying his best to keep tabs on the companions and keep them out of harm's way. He was very human and relatable. He was less crazy and funny than Tom Baker and that's what worked really well for him. I liked him because he was so different from Baker.

He has had a very nice career before and after Doctor Who. The two other shows he is probably best known for are All Things Great and Small and lately Law & Order: UK. Having spent just a few moments in his presence; he seemed to be a genuine, nice guy. Someone who really is thankful that he has played the roles he has and still has fans who want to come out and see him. He was unfailingly polite to everyone and was kind and smiled throughout his signing session. I was so thankful that I had a chance to see him in person. It was an absolute pleasure.

Gamer Girl

I'm starting this blog back up because I'm trying to practice my writing. I haven't been very active in the writing world lately. I've been doing some freelance editing and I've come to realize that I miss writing. I'm going to try and post once or twice a week and see how that goes. I  may increase if I get properly motivated.I bought some writing prompt books for my kindle and I'm going to be using some of those I think. But today I'm going to start with something that's been on my mind recently; gaming.

I am a gamer girl. I'm not sure when that happened exactly. I was not really one when I was younger. I was a book girl. I never went anywhere without a book. I brought books to school, books in the car, books on trips, and books to read during commercials in front of the TV. I was never without a good book. Now, it's not that I stopped reading, I still have full bookshelves, but video games have taken over more of my free time. When I have a few free hours in an evening, I go and play my Xbox rather than sit down with a good book.

I played games in grade school, but it was mostly board games with the family. I was always very competitive. There were not a whole lot out there yet for video games. My family did not invest in a video game system like Atari or Nintendo. We had computers. In fact we had one of the first home computers, the Commodore 64. It was mostly for my Dad, but my brother and I both had a couple of games for it. As the computers progressed, so did our systems. My Dad tried to keep up with the latest technology that we could afford. However, even when I finally had my own computer, I still didn't have too many games. I used it mostly for school. My brother used his mostly for games. And it was Derek that bought the first game system, a Super Nintendo. I didn't really get to play that much, because it was his. Even so, we both still played computer games more often than games for the Super Nintendo.

Derek finally bought a Playstation 2 and we both spent more time playing on that system. By then I was out of high school and in my first year of college. In college I didn't really have time for games. But I did meet a few people that pulled me into gaming; video and tabletop. I spent a summer playing D&D with a group of friends. We played at David's house and he was as much into video games as he was into D&D. He had every gaming system I had ever heard of; plus several I didn't know even existed. We tried them all. He even gave me his old Xbox when her upgraded to the Xbox 360. It wasn't too long before I was playing more games than I had ever played before. After college, I even upgraded myself to the Xbox 360. I can  now spend several hours playing games. And, though occasionally I think I may be losing some of my literature chops, it hasn't stopped me from questing through Skyrim or beating up bad guys as Batman. I suppose as an escape, video games offer something unique. You can immerse yourself in a good book and feel for the characters and the world of the book. In a video game, you don't have to be emotionally invested in the characters to go out and kill things or find treasure. You can follow a storyline, or just beat people up, or play a sport, and you can succeed or fail on your own merit. That's a level of control that you can't really get from a book.