Encounters of the Nerd Kind
It was late one weeknight that K and I were talking about random things when a thought occurred to me that I would like to fire a gun. And so I asked him if he could teach me. His coworkers teased him the next day about making sure “she’s not really planning to shoot you.” Judging from how I did, I’d probably miss anyway.
Yep. Saturday morning, K and I drove up to this public shooting, err, area up in the mountains near Boulder. It started snowing when we got to the top. That didn’t help things. I managed to fire four rounds using a Colt .45 with a bird’s head grip, scaring myself with my own yelps all the while. Then I decided that was enough experience I needed on that front.
It was amusing to follow that particular activity with genteel afternoon tea at the Boulder Dushanbe Tea House. We shared a pot of Lapsang Souchong, a smokey tea that tastes like campfire. The flavor grows on you. I think I prefer a lighter brew because when the aroma is really strong, I start thinking about grilled fish. Childhood kitchen association. We tried it again in the IT office and it’s much smoother, subtler and drinkable. The server did say, it’s a love/hate kind of tea.
Afterwards, we watched The Watchmen. Whooo! I am happy with the rendition, though I admit my biggest expectation entering the theater was “please don’t ruin it!” Given the medium, I thought Zack Snyder did a pretty good job delivering the main storyline in a deliberate, clear, and still entertaining manner without resorting to (too many) superhero movie moments. The one big disappointing feature for me though was how they portrayed Ozy, my favorite character from the graphic novel. For the most part they tried to stay true to his character, but in the ending scenes, there was scorn in his expression as he explained his motives. To me, the success wasn’t about being the grandmaster, but about finding the Perfect Solution, a dream shared by nerds everywhere. I missed the part in the novel when he discovers the results of his plan and rejoices in it. Anyway, there was much debate after the movie, and if prompted I can keep going.
Ah but that movie was just the beginning of the NerdFest! One of K’s friends had invited him to join a D&D game that night. Dungeons & Dragons? Wait a minute, that’s on my GTD101 list! We showed up at his friend’s house as they were halfway into the session. They were six guys and one woman (the wife) around a table in – I could hardly contain my glee – the basement. I was content to just watch, but they let me play an NPC for one of the episodes. My name was Thytus Innocen, a human helmsman on a flying ship. I lost 32 pieces of silver during a card game. Whee! The whole event was just fascinating. There was so much detail — maps, miniature characters, various sizes of dice, character sheets. Behind the Dungeon Master (DM) was an entire bookshelf of reference material. The game ended at 1 in the morning. (Or was it 2 am? Daylight savings kicked in at some point.)
The next day, we went to the park to hang out and read, but we stumbled upon a battle! The local SCA group was holding swordfight practice in preparation for the Crown Tournament. We were welcomed by a lady and her lord consort and two other lord friends. As the men donned their armor and thrust their makeshift swords and spears, our hostess was sewing a tunic using black wool and gold trimming. Could this weekend be any nerdier? 
It was actually pretty neat meeting all the new people and seeing the world the way they do. Overall, a fun weekend for learning and experiencing different things!
GTD101 Update:
53. Watch a D&D game
87. Eat out in a restaurant I haven’t tried before.
