Nerd & Geek Party at House of Blues

Immediately after The Writer's Store event meeting with author Chris Kenworthy, I drove to a traffic-laden Hollywood for another event held at the House of Blues. It's a mixer event for SoCal Professionals: Nerd & Geek Party. I should feel at home, right?

I saved some cash parking at an outdoor mall a few blocks away parking in the garage, leaving me to do some good solid walking. At the same time, there was a Hoobastank concert going on as well, making the place crowded than I would like it (personally, I'm a huge introvert so attending a party is intellectually draining in it of itself). The party took place at the Foundation Room which was smaller than I thought it would be.

As folks started coming in, the music continued to get louder and louder. Worse, the venue wasn't full of nerds and geeks; they were "regular" people dressed as nerds and geeks. Being the introvert that I am, I went all out to pursue this opportunity to meet new people, despite my unorthodox habit of not being able to give someone eye contact when talking to/with them, and also to unwind despite all this heavy work going on behind the scenes for this website. Nevertheless, it was an area in Hollywood I've never seen before and I attended an event held in a place I rarely visit; It's right across the street from The Comedy Store.

All wasn't too high a pressure. Once a long time online friend now turned into a real friend, having met in person after seven years of keeping in touch, Elise and her boyfriend Chris showed up relieving the tension having mingled with others. Had some great conversations with some people, played a game of Truth And Lie and drank lots of iced water. Like Squall Leonhart, from the hit video game Final Fantasy VIII, I did stand in one lone corner and would constantly people watch. Being a social event, there were still barriers people reluctantly won't want to break, leaving them sticking with people they're most comfortable with.

The sad part about the people? Few were savvy about anime, video games and computers, and none knew about deep topics like Quantum Logic and Tensor Calculus (thanks to computer science, I'm looking to make plans majoring in Math despite my knowledgeable strength in video production). Though I was impressed that someone knew what Blender was, it's sad no one cared about Math History having used a Calculus and a Physics book as props.

I didn't arrive home until 2:30AM even though there wasn't any traffic. Nevertheless, enjoy the pictures I took, some of which were deleted off the group's Meetup website. (I played the role as photographer instead of the party animal and was featured on just one picture. That's usually the way it's done, isn't it?)