Thank You < 3

As many of you already know, I lost my job yesterday. What began as a really horrible day, turned into an incredible humbling experience from my Twitter followers. No sooner than I had posted my recent loss, then orders began pouring in from all over! The tweets and RT's came so fast I couldn't even keep up with them. My husband and I were amazed by the support I've been given! @NerdRage42 deserves a badge for how many tweets she threw out there on my behalf! (thanks sweetie) From the bottom of both our hearts, thank you all for your support!

Where is Solid Snake? I need his box.

The only thing this "Gecko" doesn't do is MOO!

A close look at the walking robot called, Big Dog

The Cake that made Wheaton cry (not really, but it's a good title)

I'm giving a big fat shout out to my friend, Marie at Celebration Generation Cakes in Minnesota. (if only you lived closer my dear!) I knew Marie was making a Tardis cake for none other than Mr. Wil Wheaton, the crown prince of Geek himself, but I had no idea how AMAZING this cake would turn out! (And Adam Savage, lets not forget the gremlin) I mean, just look at Wil's face when he saw it:




That's a happy geek! To see the cake in all it's glory, go check out Marie's blog post all about w00tstock 2010! Congrats lady, here's to many more epic cake jobs!

Check out even MORE of Marie's geeky cake concoctions here!

Living with a not-so-geeky paramour

Some, like myself, have been very lucky to fall in love with someone just as nerdy as they are. Chris and I met when we were 14. We played a game of Super Smash Brothers on my brand spanking new Nintendo 64, and it was love at first button mashing! For others, their spouses eyes may glaze over at the mention of "hitting 450 in Jewel crafting in WoW" or "This is a d20, and this is d10, a d12, a d4..." etc. So what can one do when it comes to letting your inner geek show around your lover? You can't expect them to pull up a chair and roll a priest overnight, but here are some tips to easing your partner in, and possibly turning them to the dark side.

Start simple! Movies are a great way to get someone interested in the nerdier side of things, without beating them over the head with it. Beginner level would be along the lines of, Ghostbusters, Avatar, Spiderman 1 or 2, the original Star Wars triliogy (yes, some really haven't seen it yet) In short, give them something that has a great sci-fi/fantasy story that is neatly contained in a 2 hour block. If they show some extreme interest in a movie, you know what direction of "nerd" to move in! Be wary of long drawn out stories like Lord of the Rings It's just a bad idea for newbies, and we're getting into intermediate levels there.

Board games! Simple thing to avoid when choosing a board game: lots of rules. If it takes you 1 hour to explain the rules to your spouse, it's not worth it. They're going to be bored before you ever get to the second paragraph of the 47 page novel. Invite some friends over. Not a bunch, just 1 or 2, and be sure you invite one of HER/HIS friends over. It's good if they have someone to relate to if they don't understand something. Stay away from long winded games like RISK. One thing that I have learned, is that everyone likes zombies on some level or another. I personally recommend Last Night on Earth It has a "short" version of the game for learning the basic rules, and more extended campaigns when you really want a strategic challenge.

When it comes to video gaming, it is often difficult to play with a "newb" and keep your patience in check. Nintendo has gotten a lot of things right recently with the Wii and family gaming. The key is to START SLOW! Don't expect your girl to heal a raid! Check out games like Ghostbusters Wii (great segway if she liked the Ghostbusters movies, eh?) Super Mario Brother's Wii or, dare I say it, the new Just Dance. This will show them that not all video games are super complex, and you can have a hell of a lot of fun with Wii sports!

Of course, you spouse could totally reject all of these activities, and you're left in a geekless relationship. However, all is not lost! This is when you set up "game night" Scheduled time when you can go off and raid, game, or roll a die with your nerdy friends. It's very important that you remember to GIVE back a night so your partner can go out and do her thing too. Keep at it though, there is a geek of some sort in ALL of us!