The running joke of my trip to Winnipeg was “What’s in Winnipeg”. My husband was kind of along for the ride. He has been to Canada before specifically Toronto, but didn’t have an idea as to what could be in Winnipeg. Since Winnipeg is within driving distance of the Twin Cities, I figured it would be fun to go and check it out. As someone who has never been to Canada before, I wanted to be able to use my passport. For what it’s worth, I think Winnipeg was fun to visit and I’d be open to going back again.

To get to Winnipeg from the Twin Cities, we had to drive to Fargo, go straight north through Grand Forks, to finally cross the border into Canada. Winnipeg is in Manitoba which is the province directly above North Dakota. This was one of the most boring drives I have ever been on. I think I have burned my husband out from road trips. Oops. As we entered Canada, we were greeted with the Manitoba welcome sign which I politely asked my husband to take a picture of me in front of the sign. I can now officially say that I have been to Canada.

One of the first things we did in Winnipeg was to check out The Forks. The Forks is an indoor market with several local shops and businesses. We found several coffee shops along with a breakfast cafe inside. While The Forks advertises itself as an indoor market, it’s so much bigger than that. There’s a riverfront and a small stage for live music. It was cool to walk around and see everything. Inside The Forks, there was a bookstore which made me happy. Of course, I bought a few books.

Another notable thing to do in Winnipeg is the Canadian Human Rights Museum. The Canadian Human Rights Museum is the blue building off to the left and a core staple of downtown Winnipeg. There are seven floors to the museum including the tower that you can walk up to. This museum was gorgeous! There are glowing yellow stone ramps that lead to each section of the museum. There were several sections that included the Holocaust, missing Indigenous women, and a section on LGBTQIA+ rights. There were sections of the museum that were difficult to process. There was one story I read in the Holocaust section about a boxer named Johann Trollmann. He was forced to fight in a “German” style of boxing. In protest, he put flour on his skin and died his hair blonde to mimic the Aryan look. He was taken to a Concentration Camp where he was killed. Reading stories like this makes you realize how one small act of defiance can be so powerful. There were several stories that stuck with me and I still think about even weeks after visiting this museum.

In between various activities, me and my husband visited a few breweries including Brazen Hall Kitchen & Brewery, Lake of the Woods, and Barn Hammer Brewery. Barn Hammer had live music when we were there which was great to listen to. Lake of the Woods was right in the heart of downtown. Brazen Hall was a little more out of the way but had great food. I had a Juicy IPA that I liked.

The one other thing that I wanted to mention was we went to several board game stores and a board game cafe while we were there. Across the street from Barn Hammer Brewery was A Muse N Games. My husband commented that A Muse N Games was one of the nicest board game stores that he has ever been in. There were several shelves with board games, and all of the Dungeons & Dragons merchandise was located in the back. There were two people who came up to us asking if we were looking for anything specific. I ended up buying a new set of dice with seals in them along with a card game. I would go back to Winnipeg solely to visit A Muse N Games again.

The board game cafe that we went to was Across The Board. Across the Board was huge! There were a lot of tables and close to 100+ different games to play. There were a lot of menu options too which I wasn’t expecting. It was the perfect place to have lunch and unwind while on vacation.

Once me and my husband drove home, I asked him what he thought about Winnipeg and he said he had a lot of fun. I think Winnipeg is not the first choice when thinking about visiting Canada, but I do think there’s a lot worth seeing.

Last Sunday was the Gen Con Events schedule sign-up. Gen Con has hundreds of gaming and non-gaming events to choose from. To ensure that there aren’t too many players at one table, events need to be pre-registered in advance by acquiring event tickets. The Event sign-up process can be a little stressful as the sign-up opens at a particular time and everyone is trying to acquire their tickets at once. While I thought I clicked the button fast enough, I was still the 1100th person in the queue. It took about an hour, but I was finally able to sign up for events. I wanted to share a preview of my schedule for Gen Con this year.

Before I go into this further, I wanted to share what I’m doing differently for Gen Con this year versus the first year I went. The first year I went to Gen Con, I signed up for so many things! While that seems fun, it was overwhelming. Instead, I only have two events per day with Thursday being the day where I signed up for three. There will be plenty of time to roam around the convention, take pictures, and take breaks to eat. I’m feeling good about my event schedule.

Non-Gaming Events

While Gen Con is a gaming convention, there are events that aren’t gaming-related. On Thursday, I signed up for the “Decoding Downtown Indy Walking Tour”. Walking is one of my favorite forms of exercise and while I have been to Indianapolis twice, I don’t know the city that well. I’m looking forward to the activity and getting to know Indianapolis more. The tour is an hour and a half which I think will be a perfect way to start the convention.

Another event that I’m considering, but didn’t sign up for is the 5k. On Friday morning, Gen Con hosts a 5k. One of the main reasons that’s holding me back is that I’m not a runner. I remember the feeling of being forced to run a mile in P.E. class and feeling humiliated that I couldn’t run the full mile. Running carries a lot of shame for me. If that’s the case, why am I considering the 5k? I think the 5k would feel like I’m reclaiming running and doing it because I enjoy it, not because I’m forced to. I’m still mulling this around, so I may sign up for it or I may not.

Gaming Events

I have five gaming-themed events on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. In chronological order, I will start with Thursday. I have two demos for Thursday. The first game is called Beer and Bread. Beer and Bread is a two-player game with each player trying to compete to brew the best beer and the best bread. I thought this game sounded so wholesome. Besides Beer and Bread, I am signed up for a demo of Distilled. Distilled is a one-five-player game about creating a distillery, upgrading it, and making craft cocktails. I’m not sure why I chose alcohol-themed board games to demo on Thursday, the theme was not intentional.

On Friday, I only signed up for one event called “The Beach Dolls Affair – Trail of Cthulhu 1st Edition” When I first started playing roleplaying games, I was introduced to Call of Cthulhu and loved it. I have no idea what I’m in for, but I’m looking forward to it.

Saturday will easily be my longest day. I am going to be in straight roleplaying games from 5:00 PM – 1:00 AM. The first three hours will be “Rise of the Separatists: Darkness Rising on Naboo!” which is using the Star Wars: Force and Destiny rules. It should be no surprise that I signed up for this. I’m a Star Wars prequel fan as I grew up with the movies when they came out. I haven’t played Force and Destiny yet, so I’m curious how this will be. After Star Wars, I signed up for “Survive – Vampire the Masquerade, 5th Edition” which is a story built around Vampire the Masquerade. It’s fitting because the first time I played Vampire the Masquerade was at Gen Con, so it will feel a little nostalgic to play a five-hour session on Saturday night.

On Sunday, I’m signed up for one event and that’s “Unlife as an Anarch – Vampire the Masquerade, 5th Edition” at 10:00 AM.

Now that the event registration has happened, it’s becoming more real that I’m going to Gen Con. I can’t wait for August!

I can’t believe we are almost halfway through 2023! This year has flown by it seems. I find that April is the last month where I’m the least busy as May usually starts to ramp up with activities leading into Summer. May is going to be a busy month for me and I wanted to share what I have going on throughout the month!

Free Comic Book Day – Saturday, May 6th

Free Comic Book Day is always the first Saturday in May. I tend to have a plan on which comic book stores I want to visit throughout the day. This year is a little different since I’m based in the South Metro in the Twin Cities which means the stores that I have visited in the past, I may not visit this year. For Free Comic Book Day, I never look for anything specific. I like to show up to each store and browse their selection. Last year, I ended up purchasing almost the entire run of Poe Dameron along with some other back issues. I’m looking forward to finding new comics to read!

Besides Free Comic Book Day, there’s a comic meet-up at Gambit Brewery in Saint Paul. One of the Facebook groups that I’m a part of, Minnesota Comic Exchange, has meet-ups occasionally. I went to one last month and I had a blast! I went even though I didn’t know anyone and I ended up staying for 2-3 hours talking to people. Saturday will be a jam-packed day.

Duluth / Up North Trip

For my husband’s birthday, he wanted to take a trip up to Duluth with friends. Duluth is two hours from the Cities and it’s a beautiful city. It’s right on Lake Superior. It feels like a New England / Coastal town in the Midwest. I have been to Duluth several times and my husband loves the beauty of the North Shore. Duluth is always a fun place to visit.

Winnipeg? Toronto – Trip

This is going to sound weird, but I have never been to Canada. It’s a funny thing to say since Minnesota is on the border of Canada. I wanted to visit Canada this year as it felt like something to cross off my travel bucket list. I suggested Winnipeg because it’s one of the closest Canadian cities to drive to from where we are. My husband suggested Toronto as it would be a quick flight. I’m not sure which city we will decide on, but both are good quick trip options.

If all of that wasn’t enough, I’m still doing my May the 4th Star Wars challenge. May will be a busy month and I’m ready for it.

A few weeks ago, I drove to Chicago to visit one of my good friends along with attending C2E2. Attending C2E2 is always a highlight of my year. It’s one of my all-time favorite out-of-state conventions that I go to. I always go on Friday only, so I can spend Saturday with my friend and her husband before driving home on Sunday. I wanted to share a convention/weekend recap as this was definitely a highlight of my year.

On Friday, I woke up fairly early to work and get ready for the day. For Planet Comic Con, I cosplayed as Harley Quinn. For C2E2, I rented a cosplay from my usual go-to, Royal Fashions Costume Emporium. The cosplay that I picked to rent and ultimately wear was Buttercup from The Princess Bride. The cosplay was straightforward; the red long dress, the brown belt, and the long flowing blonde wig. This wig was much more comfortable to wear versus the Harley Quinn wig I wore a few weeks ago. The cosplay was easy to put on and was comfortable to wear all day.

Since C2E2 is located in downtown Chicago, I never drive. I always take the Blue Line to get there. It does take an hour and a half to get there, but it’s so worth it. It makes for a stress-free commute as I typically bring a book with me to read while on the train. As I walked into the convention center, I felt at ease. There’s a certain energy that C2E2 has that other conventions do not. There’s a huge C2E2 banner that’s right at the entrance which feels welcoming. Towards the entrance to the show floor, there’s a DJ playing songs with nerdy soundtracks mixed in. It’s so high energy and I love it. It makes me excited to be there.

Another fun part about C2E2 is the photo opportunities. It’s a tradition for me to take a picture in front of the big C2E2 sign. I make a point to do it every year and it’s usually the first thing that I do when I get there. There are also various other signs, movie props, etc. that make for great photos. After wandering the show floor, going to a panel, and buying some comics, I was ready to head back home.

On Saturday, I had my cups of coffee to start the day. Me and my friend ended up spending hours talking which was honestly needed. I don’t get to see her that often meaning there’s so much to catch up on. Traveling for these weekend trips can be exhausting with all the driving, so it’s nice to have some time to relax. We ended up getting dinner and having a few drinks before heading back to her house.

I’m happy to be back home after a fun weekend away. C2E2 is always a fun convention to attend, and I’m already looking forward to C2E2 in 2024.

Living in Minnesota, it helps to play a winter sport. I’m a figure skater primarily, my friend’s husband recently got into cross-country skiing. Winters in Minnesota can be brutal, so finding a way to enjoy them certainly helps. Occasionally, my team at work schedules team outings to help create a collaborative environment amongst our bigger team. The most recent outing was a trip to the Saint Paul Curling Club. I can’t say that I have been curling before, so I was intrigued as to how this was going to go. I was horrible at curling and I can confirm this isn’t a secret talent I have. Although, I would try curling again in the future as it was a fun way to pass the time.

While I have seen Curling at the Olympics, I barely knew much about the sport. In Curling, there are four roles on a team. The first role is the lead. The lead is the one who sends the stone across the ice hoping that the stone will land in the ring. There are two sweepers. Once the stone is released, the sweepers will sweep in front of the stone. Sweeping will warm the ice and extend the path of the stone. Finally, there’s a person at the end of the ice near the ring. This person will try and sweep when the stone extends near a certain line. This can help keep the stone moving, so it moves out of the ring. Each team wants to score points by having their stone in the ring.

When we arrived, we had a twenty-minute instruction on how to curl. There was a video combined with an on-ice demonstration. With Curling, there are things added to the ice to aid in traction. It wasn’t like walking on a figure skating rink which is what I was afraid of as I didn’t want to fall. I was slightly nervous, to begin with. While we were taught what to do, it’s a whole different story to have your body do the motions for the first time. I think the toughest part for me was doing the curling portion. There are certain blocks that your feet align to and then you lunge into a position on the ice to release the stone. I think it took me five different false starts to finally figure it out.

Curling, in a lot of ways, reminded me of putting in Golf. It’s a delicate balance of releasing the stone with enough force, so it glides into the ring, but not too much because then it will slide too quickly and pass the ring altogether. I’m a terrible putter in Golf because I always misjudge the distance to the hole and Curling was no different. It was nice because most of my work team had never Curled before either, so we could all learn together. I didn’t feel intimidated that I was the only one who sucked at the sport.

I was a little shocked at how much Curling felt like exercise. There’s the lunging into position to slide the stone, along with the actual sweeping portion. My Fitbit recognized that I was exercising, but wasn’t quite sure what to log the exercise as. I found myself running after the stone on the ice which led me to breathe a little harder. It looks so easy watching Curling compared to trying to replicate the movements in person.

In the end, I didn’t score at all for my team. My team did win, but not because I helped at all. I would consider Curling again especially if it gives me something to do in Winter.

I’m fortunate to have friends and family all across the United States. It allows me to travel cheaply and safely. Last weekend, I drove to Kansas City to attend Planet Comic Con. I have been to Planet Comic Con three times including this trip. Every time I go, I stay with my cousin who is gracious enough to put up with me for a few days. I always go to the convention on Friday only, so then I can explore Kansas City with him on Saturday before driving home. I wanted to summarize Planet Comic Con along with sharing pictures of my weekend in Kansas City.

For Planet Comic Con, I cosplayed as Harley Quinn. I shared a little bit of my process a few weeks ago, but now I got to try it out! For Harley, I did a makeup trial a week before the convention. This allowed me to try out different types of makeup styles. Additionally, Harley’s makeup has more eyeliner and I typically don’t wear eyeliner all that much. I felt like I had to re-teach myself how to put on makeup. Doing the makeup trial was well worth my time. I felt that on the day of the convention, I was able to put on my makeup faster, so I didn’t take as long to get ready. The only thing I would do differently was the wig. I felt that the wig that I ordered was uncomfortable to wear throughout the day. In between conventions, I will probably order a new wig if I cosplay this version of Harley again.

Normally, I attend Planet Comic Con by myself. This year was a little different. My cousin moved in with his partner and her daughter also attends Planet Comic Con. It was fun to roam around the convention with someone else and have someone else to talk to. She’s a huge anime fan, so I got to hear about her interests and she would explain cosplays to me if I didn’t understand the reference. There was one cosplay from a manga called Chainsaw Man which I have never heard of before. The cosplay was awesome! There was a foam chainsaw on his head and bloodied foam chainsaws on his arms. I was impressed.

Besides the convention, me and my cousin did some exploration around Kansas City. Every time I visit, I end up doing something different. We went out for lunch at a new BBQ place that I haven’t tried. Tin Kitchen is a BBQ place located in an old historic building. I ordered a beer, along with a pulled pork sandwich and mac and cheese. It was delicious! After that, we drove to the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library to check out the museum. It was fascinating since Truman took over when FDR passed away. There was a lot that happened during Truman’s presidency including the atomic bombs, the Korean War, and the Red Scare to name a few events. Once we finished at the Truman Presidential Library, we drove to one of my favorite breweries, Boulevard Brewing Company. Like Minneapolis, Kansas City has its share of breweries. Boulevard is one of my favorites, their tap room is huge! I had their Space Camper IPA which was featured at Planet Comic Con. After Boulevard, we went out to eat at a Mexican restaurant before unwinding for the rest of the day.

Planet Comic Con was so fun! I always have a great time visiting Kansas City as it’s one of my favorite US cities to visit. I can’t wait for my next trip.

Two weeks ago, I visited a close friend of mine who lives a few hours away. She lives in a smaller town outside of the Twin Cities. As we were planning on what to do for the weekend, she let me know that there was a small business event where small businesses in the area were offering discounts throughout the day. I thought that could be fun as I like window shopping. I ended up with a small haul of sorts, so I figured I’d share everything that I found.

The Call of Cthulhu Purse

This is probably my favorite purchase of the day. We were at a bookstore and my friend spotted these purses based off of book covers. This purse shows the cover of one of H.P. Lovecraft’s infamous stories, The Call of Cthulhu. This purse is cross-body which is an absolute must for me. It’s also surprisingly bigger than I expected and can fit my phone, wallet, keys, and chapstick comfortably. I always like showing off elements of geekdom in the things that I wear, so this purse fits well into my closet.

Titans Hunt Issues #1-8

After purchasing the Call of Cthulhu purse, we went to the second bookstore of the day. This bookstore has more of a vintage feel to it. There are records and CDs for sale along with comics towards the back of the store. There are these white long boxes, but instead of having single-issue comics, there are comic bundles with a complete story. I found this Teen Titans series for relatively cheap. I can’t wait to start reading the series.

The Secret History of Wonder Woman

It should come as no surprise that Wonder Woman is one of my favorite comic book heroes. I have cosplayed as her several times with various differences between each cosplay. I found this book and it was a must-buy for me. It’s a non-fiction book explaining Wonder Woman’s history throughout the years. I plan on reading this book this month in between all the events I have in March.

I’m happy with my purchases! I have a new purse to carry around and new things to read. This was a successful shopping trip!

I wanted to start this post by telling a story. Writing my blog is a hobby of mine and it’s something that I’m proud of. I decided to be brave and share a blog post I wrote on LinkedIn. Within twenty minutes, I had someone comment on the blog post that I shared. They had written “Too Pornish” in the comments. This was someone with who I wasn’t previously connected, so I had no idea who this person was. I immediately felt a flush of embarrassment and deleted the post linking back to my blog. I didn’t think much of it, but then I tried to access my blog through work to gather some pictures for an “About Me” presentation. My work had blocked my website because it was deemed as an adult site. I laughed and it clicked why that person commented “Too Pornish”. It made me think, is my blog name too sexual?

When I told my friend that I was thinking about starting a blog, she helped me come up with the name. The first name I picked was “The Geeky Iceskater” The name didn’t feel right to me, but I wanted to start writing as soon as possible. My friend helped me figure out some other blog name contenders and she came up with Bizarre Brunette. It clicked and I knew immediately that was the blog name I wanted. It’s funny how Bizarre and Brunette on their own aren’t sexual words, yet when they are put together, it becomes “Pornish” as this one man described. It makes me slightly uncomfortable how something that was a hobby of mine has suddenly become sexualized which was never my intention, to begin with.

I mentioned earlier how I liked that Bizarre Brunette was feminine. The reason why this matters is because of the harassment I have faced both in person and online over my hobbies. I have been made to feel unwelcome at comic book stores even though I love reading comics. When I started playing video games, I was told that I was doing it to get attention from men even though gaming helped me destress after a long day. I was harassed online because I chose a Gamertag that was more feminine. I have had people question if I’m truly a fan of something if I wear a pop culture t-shirt. It’s been draining to be made to feel like I don’t belong.

As a side note, I’m a cis, white woman, so the amount of harassment I have faced is substantially less than other women. There’s still some work that needs to happen so that all women can feel welcome in comics, video games, and geek culture in general.

I was mulling this around, but I don’t see myself ever changing my blog name. If I ever do a rebranding, it could potentially happen in the future, but I have no plans right now. I’m going to continue writing about the topics that I’m passionate about because I want women to feel more welcome in these spaces. Unfortunately for the random guy on LinkedIn, Bizarre Brunette will continue to exist even though it might be too Pornish.

I’m excited to say that I will be attending Gen Con in 2023! For those who are unfamiliar, Gen Con is the largest gaming convention in the US. There are so many different gaming events occurring along with the biggest vendor hall that I have ever seen. There’s so much going on at Gen Con that I find that there is something for everyone. I have been to Gen Con once and I always had it on my radar to go back. I may end up writing a few posts here and there as Gen Con gets closer. To start, I wanted to share the journey of attending Gen Con and why this con means so much to me despite only attending for one year.

In 2019, a few of my friends approached me about Gen Con as they felt that I would really like the convention. Gen Con takes place in Indianapolis which is only a nine-hour drive for me. I didn’t want to drive all that way myself, so I invited my brother to come with me. It was comforting having him to talk to and it made it more pleasant to be able to experience this with someone else for the first time. When I first arrived at Gen Con on Thursday, I was amazed. There were food trucks that lined the entrance of the convention which is pretty smart considering gamers need to eat. I was in line waiting to get into the vendor hall on the first day and the crowd behind us was one of the largest crowds I have ever been a part of. Another amazing part was how much there was to experience. Gen Con was hosting a brewery tour, a 5k, and other non-gaming events. I have never heard of a convention having that many events occurring simultaneously.

Immediately after getting home from Gen Con, I knew that I wanted to go back. Me and my friends were planning on attending Gen Con in 2020 which obviously did not happen. Our group kept in touch throughout the years of the pandemic. Both 2021 and 2022 were a miss as the pandemic was still around and there’s no denying that there would be a crowd. When I reached out to my friends this year, they were adamant that they wanted to return to Gen Con. All of our passes have been bought and our hotel room has been booked. It will be nice to stay at a hotel on site for parking and be able to walk to and from the convention at any time.

I cannot wait for Gen Con and I’m so happy to be going back. I know my brother is looking forward to it too and it’s been great to be able to spend time with my brother as well.