8-bit Allergy Fighter

Chronic Geek isn't just a silly name for my blog, as I've written about from time to time I have a number of long-term health problems that greatly impact my life. Managing my health is a full-time job and my love of gaming, comic books, sci-fi and the like helps me as a distraction and sanity saver. I've also found a lot of welcoming and understanding in the geeky community.

Over the past two years one of my health problems that had formerly been under control went wild! My allergies amped up and began really altering my life. Without insurance I had worried that I was just going to suffer, but thankfully I found a clinic that charges according to income. Huzzah! Then I found out that my seasonal allergies had branched out into Oral Allergy Syndrome. This can strike any adult with allergies, at any time, and causes us to become allergic to foods that are related to our pollen problems. Great, I thought, I already have Celiac Disease and had thought I was getting off lightly with all the gluten-free foods available now, as compared to sixteen years ago when I found out... Well, jokes on me as I found I was allergic to potatoes, corn, apples, and even avocados, among other things.

As my allergies have grown worse I have made changes to try to combat them. I moved to a new apartment surrounded by cement and that helped a bit. I bought a special vacuum, tried various new prescriptions, and kept the AC running all the time (poor environment, I'm sorry!).

Finally, I was able to afford some other things to try to help my allergies. Today, I received a Vogmask in the mail. Wow!

This 8-bit beauty is amazing. As you can see it's almost too big for my face, but luckily it just fits. Not only is the pattern great, but I also love that it's black since I'm fairly gothy in my style. The top of the nose seam has a soft wire inside of it that you can pinch together to fit it to your face. This is brilliant and completely comfortable. One of the reasons why I bought this mask was that every review stated that it didn't fog up glasses. I don't use contacts, so it was important to me to find something that wouldn't impede my vision. Well, I can report that it DID NOT fog up my glasses. What a relief! I was worried about spending the money and getting something that didn't work, but I'm very pleased with this thing.

Like a total dork I went outside to model it and test it out. I can tell you that as soon as I put it on I felt a complete difference in air quality. It was amazing. I never want to take it off. However, these are not washable and it will need to be replaced at some point when it becomes clogged with pollen. Given that I live near a huge freakin' forest that will probably be within months. We'll see. They do make a washable, organic cotton variety that I may try next, but it's not very Goth looking.. ;P

Even outside in the almost 90 degree Fahrenheit weather it was still comfortable and so much easier to breathe!

I plan to take this out hiking sometime this weekend and see how it does surrounded by plants, most of which I'm allergic to. (I'm not kidding).

So, that's the Vogmask. You can check it out on Amazon here.

Cheaply Geekly

What is a geek on a budget to do? Being a geek is often synonymous with being a collector, a techie who wants new gadgets, and a traveler to cons. All of this takes money. Over the last year I've had to scale back considerably in my life and its given me time to muse about geeks and materialism. It's easy to feel like an outsider if everyone around you is buying things that you can't afford and going to events that you just can't go to. Sometimes I've had to miss events due to my chronic health problems, but lately it's been about a lack of gold. I stopped blogging here last August, in part to focus on other areas of my life, but also because I felt disillusioned about reviewing new products and extolling the virtues of things that cost money.

Since then I've found ways to work within the limits of my disability, but to manage things in my life I've also had to sell a lot of things. No more subscription gaming, no more comic pull-list, no more con adventures, for now. Things are looking up, but I thought I'd share some ways to get your geek on without breaking the guild vault....

Libraries

Oh yes. Want to find a wealth of DVDs, free internet, and plenty of graphic novels? Then head to the library. Some libraries even check-out games now. This time last year I was living in an area with no library district, but I've moved and having a borrower's card again is amazing. Often libraries have fun events and free classes and even anime clubs. Check out the great manga and graphic novel selection I get to enjoy. There are four more shelves not pictured.

Universities and Community Colleges

Find the nearest center of higher-learning near you and reap the low-cost or free benefits! Check out the calender for your nearest college and you'll find events that are free and open to the public. Most community colleges also have low-cost classes that are not part of their Associates program. Nearby I can take 8-10 week session classes on everything from art to ghost-hunting for around $40. While this isn't free, it's cool to try out things like silver-smithing that you usually only get to do in games. A lot of schools also have organizations that are open to the public. The astronomy club here has free nights for the public to use their amazing equipment.

Hulu, Crunchy Roll, Netflix Streaming and YouTube
 
I don't have cable and haven't for years. It's great. I may miss out on instantly knowing what's going on in shows, but I save a lot of money. Some networks have shows for free on their sites. This will probably change soon, requiring a cable subscriber password, but for now it works. Netflix has a wealth of great shows as well and doing just the streaming service is low-cost.

Free Online Games

I've been playing a lot of League of Legends and Allods Online. Yes, LoL does have items you can buy with money, but there are also many items that you can pay for with IP instead. You earn IP as you play the game. Not having a monthly subscription and not having to pay for a game at all, is amazing. Other sites worth checking out are New Grounds and the game Rusty Hearts.

Thrift Stores

Don't underestimate the stock at your local thrift stores. I've found great gamer and band t-shirts at thrift stores. They're also a great source for finding pieces for costumes. In addition, you can find sci-fi and fantasy novels, used toys, and even games. Sometimes the games won't end up working, but paying a couple of bucks for an atari game that can be used in a craft or just put on display is still cool. I found these at my local Goodwill:

Selling Your Stuff

Over the past year I've sold things on e-bay and at pawn shops, but don't forget about Amazon trade-in. A lot of things from external hard drives to CDs and books can be traded in to Amazon. They pay the shipping and while some items don't go for a lot, it adds up. I was able to trade-in things that the pawn shop didn't want and get enough money hoarded to buy a pink 3DS for my birthday.

So, what are you tips and tricks for surviving as a cheapy geeky?

It's Been a Hard Year

As my lack of posts may indicate and the fact that I did not get to celebrate my one year blog anniversary it's been a bad few months. In February I had two consecutive gluten exposures that sent me to the hospital for a week and I've been ill off and on ever since. It's no secret that the name of this blog Chronic Geek comes from the fact that I have chronic illnesses, but it's something I try to leave out of the blog. I would rather be the Chronic Geek because I've been a fan of something since childhood, and well, that's part of the reason for the name too.

Since my health has worsened I have quit working and am doing the odd research assistance and web design work from home. I have also found out that I cannot get financial aid for the upcoming school year since I already have a Bachelor's and a Master's. This means I will not be in school for I.T. any longer.

Let's not be down though! Anyone who has read my entries knows that this blog is a positive space. For the most part I DO NOT do negative reviews and I promote people and businesses on here that are awesome.

My blog is back up and running now. I may not be able to get out a lot to do stuff, but I am going to Gen Con and I was able to get a hotel connected to the ICC so that I can easily go back and rest as necessary.

So, let's get to some posting. Thanks for listening!

Go Team ...Very Girly Smarties!

I am not the girliest person out there, but I have my moments. I don't know how to use a curling iron, put on eye-liner (still!) and I don't often wear make-up. I wear jeans, carry a wallet, and prefer dark colors with the splash of purple or teal every now and then.

For years and years I rejected girl culture as irrelevant and problematic for women and men because strict gender roles are cultural constructs that unfairly restrict people, both men and women.

I still don't have a lot of female friends, but I have learned over the years to not stereotype or reject other women based on their girliness.

Some women like very feminine things and using the American cultural standard of what is "male" to define things like science, gaming, comic books, etc hurts all parties involved. Why can't a calculator be pink or a textbook have cute drawings in it? Making the Western concept of "male" as the default or even neutral is unfair. For women like me it makes us feel that we should be masculine if we like certain pursuits that are "manly" and cut us off from other women. In fact, the things we are into are not just for men, but are MARKETED to men, and men spread their love for those things to other men. That's the problem.

We need to market these things to all flavors of men and women. By doing so we increase by 50% the number of people reached, meaning increased sales and meaning a larger pool of intelligent people to step forward and become innovators.

To that end I am happy to see things like Computer Engineer Barbie and I plan to buy one.

I am also happy to see things like this video of a group of Cheerleaders who are also scientists.



Things like this let those little girls who are actually girly see that they can retain who they are and want to be and still go into the math and sciences. A lot of little girls like me got into math and science because we were "tomboyish" and attracted to the spaces and things that were stereotypically male. It wasn't because we were inherently masculine, but just that we liked those things.

Weighted Companion Cube Soap

When I got home from a very long day after a very long week something wonderful was waiting for me courtesy of the mega-monstrously talented Kylee Lane of Luxury Lane Soap!

I cannot thank her enough for hosting the Weighted Companion Cube Soap Contest and for giving away not one, but TWO amazing soaps.

"Plush Companion Cube meet your soapy lil' Dopplegangers!"

You can get your own by clicking here. I'm excited to say that the ingredients don't have wheat! Furthermore, these little darlings SMELL amazingly delicious. YUM!

I have a problem....a habitual desire to stack things on my head...

So, that's that! I can't wait to put one on display and slowly kill the other one in my shower. Hey, it's the fate of companion cube to die....usually by fire, but eh, one way or another!

Java, Java, Java

I made a game!

In my Java course our final project is a fully working game along the lines of a 2D sidescroller. We've been learning how to write code at an accelerated pace. We got into GUI's after a few weeks. The challenge of the class is that it's a teaching style I have never encountered before called problem based learning. Essentially we know just enough to start a project and then must figure out the rest on our own. While progamming languages like Java certainly involve a lot of logic and math (thankfully!) there are also certain things that are very specific and not easily derived. Sometimes this feels like it might if you were learning Spanish and knew how to say Dónde and you knew that estar was a verb, but didn't know the conjugation rules nor the word for bathroom.

In the last few weeks the workload has gotten intense leading up to this very simple game. Figuring out how to write code for the specific requirements for this program is our last assignment before we begin working on the final game.

So, here it is. I made a video explaining the process and it includes footage of the "game".

Invisible Illness Awareness & Being Geeky

This week is Invisible Illness Awareness Week. Invisible illnesses include a wide variety of disorders that most people probably do not sense that others have. If you can't tell someone is sick then your actions towards that person will assume that they are an able-bodied individual As you can imagine this could create a host of complications from thinking a person who is fatigued is "just as tired as everyone else" not knowing that the person is medically exhausted to not realizing that someone you see on a daily basis is constantly in pain.

What does this have to do with being geeky? Well, in my opinion the traditional geek hobbies of electronic gaming, table-top gaming, computing, and the many other awesome things geeks are involved in are the perfect outlet for those who have an invisible illness. Chances are you know or game with someone who is disabled openly and others that have a chronic disorder that you cannot sense like Arthritis, Lupus, Firbromyalgia, CFIDS, MS, Depression, Anxiety, and any of the other many disorders that can hide in plain sight.

Geeky hobbies, jobs, and entertainment are great opportunities for those who are limited in some way because by nature geeky stuff is adaptable. For example if a person suffered from too much pain or fatigue to play a console/computer game then he or she could always try a game of DnD played in a place with a couch and an understanding gaming group. In general technology is a natural connection to any type of illness because it can make more options possible for the person affected.

Finally, I would argue that if a person finds something that he or she really enjoys then there is the benefit of being distracted for a moment from what is going on in life. Some people might disagree with me and argue that "resorting to fantasy" is bad for a person who is suffering. I completely disagree. There is nothing that makes hobbies and entertainment any less real than whatever people think 'real' life is when they throw the term around. What we care about is always a part of our life, even if it isn't making us money or doing something that is typically considered 'practical'. Anything that adds to our life in a pleasant way is 'practical' .

What do you think? What other types of geeky activities do you think could help someone with a chronic illness?

IT Crowd v. 1.2

Java programming is my new best friend. I remember really enjoying the basic programming that I used to do and now that I am taking courses in IT the thrill has returned.

This past week I took apart a computer in the repairs class, did some basic network stuff, discussed systems analysis, and of course spilled plenty of code across the screen.

The work is not without its physical limitations. For one thing I'm a very petite person. In most of the labs the bench with the computer and, or monitor is pretty high and forgot about the shelf that holds the router. Much like a lot of things in this world the setting is optimized for someone at least 5' 8" or taller. I'm not worried about this though. It means I have reduced leverage, but I am going to track down a stool. This reality is part of the reason why I'm glad I'm not going into EST or hardware repair. I can imagine having difficulties at some places because of my hobbity size. Of course, I'm partially joking, but you never know...

Aside from this 'small' issue the work is a perfect fit. Here's part of the old computer that I will be repairing as the semester progresses and our professor plays tricks on us:

Still, a vast improvement over the computer I built in 1996 with a friend. We ran out of screws and tied the hard drive in with a shoelace. Yes, it ran fine.

The Gamers Before the Storm

In a few hours I will be heading out to Indianapolis on a long and debatably scenic drive. Before I begin to inundate my Twitter and possibly my Youtube and Flickr with as up to the minute as possible updates I thought I would recommend two blogs to you and also introduce my Gen Con group.

There are many, many excellent sites out there in the blogosphere and my link list contains a sampling of them. So check them out. If you are reading this and I haven't stopped by your blog let me know!

Please check out my Arch Nemesis Captain Osmotic Ricardo. He wrote an excellent piece reflecting on character death in games and it contains this brilliant line, "After much suffering (and 16 failed dice rolls)"... Although the Captain and I are arch enemies we find ourselves often matching wits in games, comic book stores, and in the realms of the Xbox Live Game Room. (I will defeat your Millipede score!). In all honesty despite his arching ways and his work for the Guild of Calamitous Intent, Captain Osmotic is incredibly knowledgeable about a lot of games and a lot of tech. He's a real peach.

Now let's talk about the folks attending Gen Con with me.

Check out the blog of Absolute Anne the lovely lady, er, Princess who will be driving us to Gen Con. Her blog is ablaze with sass and such. She also has a great piece up with advice about attending Conventions. Anne is a real doll. She is part of my DnD turned Pathfinder game and is the Junior Goddess of all things anime. You should see her manga collection. I've tried to break in several times to steal it and to do her dishes! (Not a euphemism, thanks). I'm looking forward to our time at Gen Con together.

If they had blogs I would recommend the blogs of my fellow gamer friends Beth and Ryan who will also be with us in Indy. They are very fun, awesome people with some mad table-top and WoW skills. Yes, that's right. All of us, including Anne, are in the same Guild on WoW.

Finally, I would also recommend my husband's blog if he had one. He is a brilliant and funny guy with years of Magic and White Wolf gaming under his belt. He's also in our WoW guild and we spend most of our times in a living paradise of gaming at home, playing metal on our guitars and enjoying our cats. It's really a dream come true.

Here's hoping we all have a great time at the Convention. If any readers are going I hope you also have a fantastic time and if you aren't going then bear with me as I gush on about it.

Cheers!

Nerdifacts

Nerdy artifacts from my youth are few and far between. I wish I had video from the 1980's and more pictures of myself. Over this past weekend I visited my family home and ended up digging out a couple of boxes. In them I found a treasure-trove of items from the 90's.

In the 90's I went from jr. high to h.s. to college. In jr. high and high school I was in scholastic bowl, concert choir, the speech/drama team, and an executive officer in the science club. I took every AP science class our school had, including summer field courses in which I got to do surveying for the state, go caving and do some major canoeing. When I graduated I had taken the equivalent of six years of science!

So, how did this nerdy young girl who always had a book in hand dress? Here she is in 1997 toward the end of h.s:

Rocking the all black even then and with my Star Wars tie to boot. Those were the days!

Well, I found in the box I saved some of my geeky ties!
On the left we have a great Star Trek tie. I also found my old ST:TNG communicator pin so I threw that in the photo as well. In the middle we have my dinosaur tie and then finally the Star Wars tie! I know I had many more ties, but I'm not sure if I'll ever find them.

The Star Trek tie was still tied from the last time I wore it. Which, despite the fact that it's at least 14 years old, was probably sometime in the early 2000's. I put it on just for kicks. I think I'm just going to have to start wearing ties again....

Geeky Soap

You've probably seen these on other blogs and geeky sites, but here's a fresh reminder about some very unique soap!

Geeky Clean has an amazing assortment of soaps to choose from. I'm excited to see their booth at Gen Con and I'm even more excited to have soap with a treasure inside of it!

Yes those are d20's in there. I love this idea! I will be giving away the Health bar in a contest this week. So stay tuned!

Next up is Geek Soap! A few days after I ordered my soap a new WoW hearthstone soap appeared on the site. It's awesome. I have to admit that I want it pretty badly. I got two very cool soaps from this site.

The Star Trek bar is very cool. It's wrapped in plastic still hence the weird squiggles. The cartridge soaps make great display pieces in my very eclectic bathroom. It also really does resemble the actual thing in great detail. Here's a comparison with my Game Boy:


Over at Luxury Lane there is even more great soap including Hello Kitty! This is the site where you can get the awesome Carbonite soap.
This picture doesn't do it justice and I left it in its packaging so it's a bit shiny. It's a display soap for me as well since it contains wheat and I am gluten intolerant, but it was well worth it. The level of detail is really awesome.

**I've also found out that both Geek Soap and Luxury Lane will be at Gen Con together in one booth under the G33Kmade banner. Yay! Gen Con is going to rock!**

All three soap makers create little works of art. These soaps are vegan friendly, fun to have, and smell wonderful. Any of these would make great gifts for your gaming buddies.

If you know of any other geeky soap makers let me know. These three are truly artisans at what they do. Having soap like this just adds another bright spot to every day life.

Geek Pride Day!

Today is Geek Pride Day and Towel Day. No, not "Towelie" Day (you're a towel!) but a celebration of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I'll post on that a bit later today. For now, here's a Geek Pride video for you.