#pitypizza

[alannahsh-blog]

#VSCOcam #veganpizza #pitypizza #noms

[gamenortheast-blog]

Cosplay, Free Pizza, and a Meet & Greet with IGN

It is not a difficult task to get kicked out of a cosplay event. First find it. Follow the signs leading to the event, and the eccentric costumes drifting towards its general direction; in this case meeting room number 50, first floor of the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center which hosted PAXEast cosplay room. Walk through the gated entrance ignoring the looks of distain and questioning gazes of costumed cosplayers, again, through the door ignoring the costumed guard, and get asked to leave by Cinderella who was working the door. There is a dress code I was ignorant of. I wore a T-shirt purchased online satirizing the iconic Image of King Kong swatting planes down from the empire state building; in place of the king gorilla was a lethargic bug eyed sloth. A flat brim hat, boots and constricting jeans topped the look off. I fit in with the Gamers on the show floor of PAXEast; moving booth to booth demoing games and tech that looked interesting. The Sloth-Kong T received compliments, but I was not approached for photos or asked to sign autographs. I wasn’t acting as a character other than myself. I was not planning to visit a hospital for superhero day dressed in a meticulously homemade ironman outfit. I was not a successfully employed model who live-streams video games and cosplays for fans or for hire. Outside of this event there is little practical context for me to dress up as a scantily clad ninja warrior unless on Halloween; doing so on a day other than Halloween will attract the same disdainful glares I received when intruding on this costume only social event, or more likely a phone call to the police. (The blogs staged cover photo already attracted the attention of a disgruntled passerby who threatened calling police.)

I felt out of place, frustrated, and rejected after Cinderella asked me to leave. No costume no admittance. My intentions were ignorant but honest, and certainly not malicious: Capture photos and audio conversations with people in costume. Pimps, Medieval soldiers, Fairies, heroines, superheroes, vicious looking feline creatures; the costumes covered the gamut from odd to outrageous, all carefully thought out. Ambitions of creating a cosplay centric blog piece were quickly swatted down; much faster than any giant sloth on a T-shirt might swat a circling plain. So many interesting personalities, creations, and characters all in one conference room mingling; Cosplay room 50 was the Mecca of costumed conversational material perfect for a blog piece on cosplayers, and I couldn’t get in.

Instead I attended a Panel on Sunday at 12:30. “IGN Presents Game Scoop” a successful entertainment website that generates content and reviews on video games, films, music and other media. Panel hosted by IGN personality Daemon Hatfield; with Mitch Dyer (Editor), Marty Sliva(Editor), Brian Altano (IGN host) and Vince Ingenito (Editor). I was hungry and venting to people I had just met in line. A slice of untouched pity pizza was shared with me; I enjoyed it. Having been caught up investigating PAX’s Costumed attendees I neglected food.

The slice of pizza fueled me for the hour panel and a later impromptu to excursion to Harpoon Brewery with the IGN team.

I made eye contact with Brian Altano initially, prior to the panel starting, as he looked at my Sloth Kong shirt while nodding in approval; a simple and effective gesture of recognizing his audience individually. The audience is there to engage in discussion; panel presenters affirm this as they all react to the crowds light heartened shouts, questions, and comments. Acknowledging their fan base as not only consumers of their content, but participants, adds to the panel’s appeal. The final gift of a Ninja Turtles board game was given out with a comical uproar of applause; the previously gifted consoles hardly stirred the crowd. As the crew was packing up and taking photos with fans I asked Daemon about the post panel meet and greet. I joined IGN at Harpoon Brewery in Boston as one of the few panel attendees who knew about their post panel destination.

My conversations are shared primarily with Marty and Vince. Marty suggests games to play with a girlfriend to get her involved in my long time interest, and Vince shares his feelings of stigma surrounding gamers growing up. Beer and cider is plentiful and on tap; conversation is equally as plentiful. Vince delves into his emotionally trying feelings of being a gamer when the industry was less main-stream. This emotional baggage has stuck with him even though he is proven successful in the industry. A female friend of Vince’s chimes up and agreed as Vince says he used to feel like a loser. “I still struggle telling my friends I’m a gamer” she shares. He tells me being a gamer was stigmatizing before the industry was main-stream. Gamers were pigeonholed as weirdo losers without jobs and careers; some feel they are still. Vince and his colleagues are a testament to how wrong the stigma is. His colleagues are all very personable and willing to share their experience. The stigma surrounding gamers he felt and shared with me will not define character if sociable, kind, and successful people continue to represent the community.

I began thinking of the cosplayers at PAXEast, who must feel the same stigma of early video-game proponents. Easily ostracized anywhere other than convention settings cosplayer’s costumes are an expression of their interests, and the characters they emulate allow for escape. In costume they can visit a hospital and brighten the lives of sick children. In costume they can pose for photos with enthusiastic passersby, or be hired for modeling gigs. In a separate convention room of at the Boston Convention Center cosplayers are safe from the judgmental looks; the looks of gamers who may not understand their hobby yet. Vince provides insight into approaching a hobby that is not fully understood; approach with an open mind. Negative judgments and comments towards a misunderstood hobby is a harmful way of thinking, one that made Vince feel as though he was a loser. I can say I don’t fully understand cosplay’s allure, but as a gamer in a generation where gaming is more socially accepted I appreciate hobbyists perusing their interests and expressive outlets. Had I been born 15 years earlier, my hobby might have induced the same feelings of not fitting-in more frequently as did walking through a room of costumed individuals in only street clothes.

[thegirlwhoownstheworld-blog]

Day 1 NaNoWriMo 2078/50000

So far I feel pretty good about National Novel Writing Month. I've written about 2000 words of a short story, after feeling like poop and staying in bed for far too long this morning. The meds I am taking for the women problem make me feel tired and also nauseated for most of the day. This makes it hard to get up in the morning, and also hard to get going in the afternoon. But, I've started. That's all there is to do. Start, and hope something will come of it.

 My roommate is also doing NaNoWriMo, and we are setting some parameters/bets in order to motivate ourselves to win.

"winning" means writing 50 000 words by December 1st, 2013

"losing" means failing to write the 50 000 words by December 1st 2013

If there's a loser and a winner, loser buys the winner their choice of pizza to share.

Both winners, we both buy pizza a reasonable amount of pizza to celebrate. 

Both lose, and we have to buy 3 large pity pizzas, and ruminate.