Still Basking in the Glow of Awesome

Last night was w00tstock.

I'm tired. Maybe I should write this another time.

w00tstock was supposed to be around 3 hours. I had a feeling it would be a bit longer. I've heard the stories. I even joined Twitter to get some updates from some of the performers before the show started, and they gave me the impression that this little shindig was going to be a late night.

It started at 7:30. It lasted FIVE HOURS. Yes. That means I didn't get home until almost 1 AM. Then I tried to go to sleep, but it was one of those situations where I was so tired, and I knew I had to get up in a few hours, but I just couldn't fall asleep. Didn't actually lose consciousness until roughly 3 AM. My alarm starts going off at 5.

Yes. I'm running on about 2 to 2.5 hours of sleep. I'm gonna need a lot of coffee.

Wait a minute, you still want to know what w00tstock is? All right. If you're any kind of geek or nerd, you'll get it.

I've been a fan of Paul and Storm for a couple years now. They're a comedy music duo who often perform with Jonathan Coulton. They're hilarious. Not long after I realized that P&S were a completely separate entity from JoCo, I started seeing references to w00tstock and the Age of Geekdom. Most notably, they had teamed up with none other than Wil Wheaton, someone who had mostly fallen off my radar since his days on Star Trek: The Next Generation. I, like many other geeky girls of my generation, fell in love with Wil as Wesley Crusher, the young, handsome wunderkind on the Starship Enterprise. (Hey, I was 11, give me a break.) I outgrew it quickly, but I still credit him for being the reason I like geeks/nerds today (I also credit Patrick Stewart for being the reason I like bald men - everything I know I learned from Star Trek: TNG). Most importantly, Wil taught me this: smart guys are hot.

So, I hear that Paul & Storm are sharing a stage with Wil Wheaton, my girlhood crush. Want more awesome? Why not throw in a dose of Mythbusters? Adam Savage is part of the w00tstock team, too! Can it get any better than this?

Of course it can!

Just add one physics professor (Jim Kakalios from the University of Minnesota), two voices of Crow T. Robot (Trace Beaulieu and Bill Corbett), a few sweet illustrations (courtesy of Len Peralta), countless pictures of "the Animal Conspiracy" (thanks to comedian Tim Bedore), and a quirky girl with a ukulele (Molly Lewis), and you have a magical evening of Awesome. (There were lots of others there, but the sentence was getting long.)

It was hilarious. I laughed. I didn't cry. I heard stories and saw videos and sang songs. Entertaining antics ensued. It was an evening for the ages.

It was w00tstock.

Now it is done and I am sad. And tired. Very tired. But there was one thing I couldn't help but notice: there is a significant lack of Girl Geeks out there. The only one to perform last night was Molly Lewis (who was the perfect choice to represent the Girl Geeks out there), and I was a little sad that we didn't get much from the female perspective. It may be time to start my memoirs. I could begin with how Wil Wheaton changed my life. Oh, and that "novel" I was writing about my Lego toys. That could go in there, too.

In other news, yes, you did read that correctly up there. I joined The Twitter. Still don't know what the hell I'm doing with it, though. But I think I say this: follow me @buppyspek. It will be an adventure!