One is the loneliest number

I have always loved playing games but I would not consider myself a gamer. Though I grew up in the age of Atari and Nintendo and spent many nights staring blankly at my television screen pounding my thumbs onto the controller until I got blisters, video games are not my first passion. Board games are where the real action is. Board games require a certain type of strategy and poker face coolness that cannot be matched in video games. When you sit down in front of a television screen your opponent can be anywhere in the world and you have no other interaction than the game and a headset. With board games your opponent is right there, staring you in the face and reading all of your thoughts through your body language. This adds a completely different element and can often times be used to your advantage.

I have to admit that when I was a teenager I spent a great deal of time playing video games on my Nintendo and PlayStation consoles, completely negating all of the board games from my childhood. But it wasn't until I became a parent that I understood and appreciated all the wonders that board games have to offer. When my oldest daughter was around seven or eight I found myself going to Toys R Us and buying all the games that I used to play as a child. Suddenly seeing all of those boxes brought back a flood of childhood memories. While my daughter's level of excitement was not nearly as high as mine I knew in time we would create our own special memories. When I was a kid my mother was never fond of games and only played with me on rare occasions. Fortunately for me there was always someone who loved to play games with me no matter what and that was my grandmother.

My grandmother was always up for a good board game or card game and I couldn't have asked for a better opponent. When it came to strategy and being cool under pressure, she was the Obi Wan to my Luke Skywalker. Most would assume that because she was my grandmother that she would be easy on me so as not to hurt my feelings, but not so. She played by the rules but knew how to stretch them enough to shift the game in her favor. We always played as equals and if I had to make a move that would help my chances but hurt her she would always encourage me to execute. I would be heartbroken thinking that I would have to do something that could possibly upset my grandmother but then in her next turn she would completely obliterate whatever move I previously made.

She was very strategic but never ruthless and when she won she would always say "Don't worry, there's always next time." Looking back, out of all the games we played together (and there were many) I won maybe 15% of them. Every time we sat down to play another round of Sorry, gin rummy, chutes and ladders, Risk or any other game my goal was always to beat her. Because she had such a stellar track record I never believed that I would be able to surpass her record, but I kept trying. After my grandmother passed I missed those times we spent together laughing and joking about stuff while in the middle of a heated game. I guess that's why I shifted my focus to video games because I couldn't handle the fact that my favorite opponent was no longer there.

But soon I was yearning for the nostalgia of board games and switching my Xbox controller for chess pieces. Getting back into the swing of things took a bit of time and started out a bit lonely. In my household I am the only one who can get lost in games for hours. Not only are they fun but a huge stress reliever for me. My wife wasn't a fan of games initially and our oldest daughter preferred reading. I had to seek other "table toppers" or games that could be played with one person (which is really difficult to find). However, after some time and finding some really great games my family soon started to come around and ask to play with me. Don't get me wrong I still love playing Bioshock and Borderlands but nothing can get me more giddy than a rousing game of PowerGrid.

Reading is Fundamental

I love to read. Book stores and the library have always been my favorite places to hang out, even as a teenager. But lately reading has taken a back seat to being a stay at home mom raising a thirteen year old and a nine month old. Yeah! So at the start of this school year I made a decision to take some time and read more books. I even go the family into cutting down some of our television viewing and spend more family quite time. The timing of this could not have been better since my oldest daughter had to read some books for a school competition. One of the books on the list just so happened to be a book that we both had been eyeing for some time. Drum roll please...

Cinder, written by Marissa Meyer, is the first book in The Lunar Chronicles series. There have been many different books/stories to come out with interesting twists on classic fairy tales but this one is different. Cinder, a spin on Cinderella, is a cyborg and the story is set in the future in New Beijing. When you first read it you will draw upon the obvious connections to the classic story. Girl has an evil step-mother with two step-sisters, girl is a servant to her step-mother, girl feels trapped in her current status. But once you get past all of that the author manages to throw in some unique punches that bring the story to life.

Scarlet is the second book in the series and is a twist on guess which classic story? If you guessed Red Riding Hood then you are right. That might have been a hard connection to make. In the second book you will learn about Scarlet, her grandmother and Wolf and the interesting web that they weave together with Cinder. I just finished this book and was very shocked and pleased at how Meyer reworked this story. With this book you begin to get past the back stories of these characters and begin to see what the heart and soul of the series is really about.

I haven't even cracked open the cover of the third book, Cress, which is supposed to be a twist on Rapunzel. From what I have read thus far I know that this book will be a delight to read and I can't wait to get into it and tell you about it. The final book is called Winter and is supposed to be a twist on the Snow White story. The fourth book doesn't come out until next year so we will have to wait and see how EVERYTHING comes together until then.

If you love science-fiction with a dash of fairy tale then these books are a must read! I must say that as a kid I was never a big fan of these fairy tales. I was a tomboy playing outside, climbing trees and making mud pies. I had no time for such damsel in distress woes. Even when I became a mother I didn't really read these stories to my daughters. I may sound like a feminist but I didn't want to put into my daughters head the idea that they needed to be rescued by some tall, dark and handsome man. That's what I LOVE about this series, these stories take old traditions, throw them on the ground and shatter them. Cinder and Scarlet are main characters that take charge of their lives and make things happen for themselves. THEY are the ones choosing the path of their destiny, not someone else.

Woo! I got a little passionate there towards the end. Check out Cinder and tell me what you think!

Something new to fill my BSG void?

Just when I thought that I couldn't possibly add another television show to my already full arsenal, here comes Helix. For those of you that don't know, Ronald D. Moore (who produced Battlestar Galactica) has a new television series on the SyFy channel. Helix is a show about a group of scientists from the CDC who travel to the arctic to get the outbreak of some crazy disease under control. Episode 1 and 2 had me on pins and needles because the show seemed like a cross between the movie Contagion and the television show The X-Files with a little zombie feel thrown in for good measure. So far the show is eight episodes in and there is soooooo much going on. If you plan to watch it I would highly recommend doing so before you continue to read cause I'm gonna talk about it.

The show kicks off with Dr. Alan Farragut being called to help with an outbreak in some remote part of the arctic where research is being done. Alan is given this information by his ex-wife, Dr. Julia Walker, and some military guy by the name of Sergio Balleseros. Alan isn't quite sure why HE is being called in for this task specifically until Julia tells him that one of the infected patients is his brother Dr. Peter Farragut. Oooooohhhhh the plot thickens

Alan gets his team together (including some young scientist who seems to have a thing for him) and they head to the land of ice and snow. Once they get there they are met by Dr. Hatake who heads the entire base and his "son" Daniel who is the head of security. Alan and Julia see Peter for the first time and it's a bit awkward since Julia was once married to Alan but slept with Peter during their marriage. OUCH! Peter looks CRAZY with his eyes all bloodshot, skin pale and black veins running up and down his body. Basically Peter looks like he could be a cast member on The Walking Dead, and not the alive kind. 

Things pretty much go from bad to worse when Peter escapes isolation and becomes a vigilante on the rampage. He begins infecting other people by essentially vomiting some black liquid from his mouth into his victim's mouth. GROSS! Before you know it people are getting sick left and right (including Julia...oh yeah!) and the infected have to be quarantined to a separate level of the base. As more people become infected and more time passes Alan's patience is becoming short and he sees that there is something deeper going on. OH! I forgot to mention that one of Alan's team members (who is SO close to cracking the code for the virus) gets killed by military man Balleseros. WHAT! So from that point on we know that there is some shady stuff going on.

I don't want to get into too much detail because you really have to watch it to get all of the interpersonal relationships going on. Plus I just don't want to type eight episodes worth of information all in one blog entry. All in all this show is excellent! It's got the great science fiction plot line with an ethical dilemma and creepy half dead, man eating killers thrown in just for fun. If you haven't watched the show yet it comes on at 10pm Friday nights on the SyFy channel. Check it out and let me know what you think so we can recap and discuss. In the mean time check out this trailer.

Hello and welcome to The Adventures of Black Geek Mom

Pull up a chair, relax and kick back. This blog is meant to be a place for expression, conversation and all around fun. Topics can range from books, movies, comics, toys, and anything else that peaks on the geek radar. First off, please do not be discourage by the title. While I am black, a geek and a mom this space is inclusive of all geeks and nerds alike, so please feel right at home. I would like for this blog to be interactive so if there are topics you want to discuss or ideas you want to share I would love to hear them.




Now how about a formal introduction!

My name is Kendal and in addition to being a geek (all my life) I am also a wife and mother. I love to learn new things and am always interested in exploring new areas of geekdom. Out of my entire family I place a bit higher on the geek scale but I'm teaching my two daughters to surpass me. I look forward to meeting all of you!