Gen Con

Do you know what Gen Con is? It's the biggest gaming convention in the U.S.
It's held in my hometown. 70,000 people in attendance over a 4 day period of time.
It's been held here for several years now. You always know when it's started because of all the crazy people walking around in costumes. 

This year, I decided to find out more about it. You know, like what the hell does Gen Con stand for?
Well, it all started in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. So they called it the Geneva Convention...Gen Con. 
And it's all about games. BOARD games!!! I had no idea that there were even board games that required a convention! All I know about board games are, Monopoly, Chutes and Ladders, Uncle Wiggly, Risk, Sorry. It made me want to go to a Toy Store and look at board games! I guess this all stems from that game, Dungeons and Dragons? Beats me. Anyway, the convention center was cram packed full of people. Lots of them dressed like their favorite characters. And they're just so happy to stop and pose for you, if you want to take their picture;

Yeah, I know this isn't a costume, but really, have you ever seen a dragon made out of balloons? How cool is that?

The other thing that was interesting to me was the lack of diversity in the gaming world. I guess black people are too busy working to play games? 
Or there are just A LOT of white nerdy people sitting around in their parents basements, playing board games? I'm positive there's some kind of social commentary there...whatever.

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It was all very entertaining to a non-gamer, like myself. And I enjoyed learning a little bit about it. Hobbies are such a funny thing. 

My fella asked me just the other night if I would ever join a group. You know, like a quilling group. I said no, nope, nah uh! I'm really not a joiner. I don't want to have to interact with people or feel responsible for doing something with them. Ick. Is that weird? It made me think of Gen Con though. Tens of thousands of joiners!!!!! Wow!