Speak Out With Your Geek Out

Monica Valentinelli has launched a week of geek pride with her online effort, Speak Out With Your Geek Out. Given my oft-cited reasons for starting this blog, I jumped to participate when I learned about the project. SOWYGO asks participants to:

Take a stance against baiting nerd rage and stereotypes of geeks.

Post about how much you love your geeky hobbies or vocation from Monday, September 12th, 2011 to Friday, September 16th on your blog, website, social media account or in a forum somewhere. Then come here and tell us about it. We'll have a kick-off post where you can stand and be counted.

Let's show the world why we're awesome and why there is nothing wrong with being a geek.

So, for my first post of SOWYGO week, I would just like to reiterate exactly why I love to play D&D. 


Dungeons and Dragons has helped to revitalize my creative side. It has provided inspiration for artistic side projects that I had lost for a long time. It has also challenged me to sustain a single creative project over a long period of time. Even during my days of prolific artistic expression during my youth, I would struggle with extending drawing or other art projects beyond a single sitting. I have been running my current D&D storyline for almost 3 years now.


Dungeons and Dragons has helped me grow closer to my friends. Contrary to the stereotypical image of tabletop RPGers as socially inept do-nothings, I have found my gameplay experience to be quite the opposite. My players and I use our game much like a book club, poker night or other recurring gathering as an excuse to take a break from our busy lives and have fun with friends. It is decidedly social; We talk, we have dinner and we just happen to also roll dice and fight imaginary monsters.


I think SOWYGO is an admirable endeavor, if for no other reason than perhaps a kid, tossed about in the hormonally driven tempest that is high school will take heart that geeks often grow up to be more interesting people and... oh, sod it... the Oatmeal said it best.