This Week in Geek 2012/11/05

A showcase of this week's finest geek and geek related activities for the week. Mark your calendars.

images from last year's FaerieCon
(photo by me)

Longer Term

• Convention - FaerieCon - Baltimore, MD - Friday through Sunday
• I need a clone. Or a way to download my friends' memories from this year's FaerieCon. As you might remember from my review last year, I love this convention. I'd pay the cost of the ticket to see even one of the bands in their line-up, and then there are classes, and the masquerades... The costumes are beautiful. The goblin-market set-up is delightful. And you might get to see Mab Wedji Tucheeks.
• Convention - Anime USA - Washington, DC - Friday through Sunday
• Anime USA is a staple of the local convention scene. The guest line up looks excellent, and you might get to run into me, Brannen, or James. I think there's still a bit of time to register before the con on their site. The events this year look truly impressive - from the usual masquerade and contests to the ringmaster's ball. Hope to see you all there. Also check out our 2011 review, silly mid-con report, and interview with Lauren Orsini.
• Writing - NaNoWriMo - Everywhere - All month
• I know a lot of people hate on NaNo. The reasons I've heard include snotty comments like "writing is an art and you can't just shit out anything in one month and expect it to be good." So here's my tl;dr argument - All first drafts are shit. It's about getting anything written and getting past the fear of failure. And it's fun. So if you want to rant about how you spend months perfecting that one freeform poem because of your love of craft, that's fine. I'll be over here, writing about a dystopian Atlantis where a wisecracking mercenary and a talking fish take on humanity's selfish nature, or something. Check Meetup for NaNo writing events throughout the month.

Today

• Remember - Remember, the Fifth of November - Everywhere - All Day
• As is inevitably trending on Twitter, today is Guy Fawkes Day. Legitimate historical holidays aside, there probably are the celebratory hacks, attacks, and rallies, but I just haven't been listening in for what they are this year. In modern tradition, you could skip the bonfires in favor of some lessons in ethical hacking or just throw more money at Alan Moore and pick up a graphic novel.

Thank you, Conspiracy Keanu (from Quickmeme)

Tuesday

• Vote - No seriously, go vote - Virginia, DC, Maryland - Check the hours at your location
• Without getting too political, I can say that my Tuesday night will include a few friends, a stiff drink, and news coverage. If you're worried, Mother Jones encourages everyone to watch and record voter suppression. I was going to recommend a few bars that were planning to offer free beer in exchange for an "I voted" sticker, but that's cancelled. Even if election day is BYOB, you should still vote. I promise, Halo 4 will still be there when you get home.

Did we miss something? If you have an event you’d like to promote that isn't on this list, leave a comment or email us. Other weekly recurring events are listed on our website (such as Rocky, CCG tournaments, crazy themed happy hours). For more information, check out the calendars at DC Geeks. If you'd like to subscribe to DC Geeks posts, please check out our RSS feed.