Women of Geekdom rocked my world

This weekend, I got to do something fantastic. I was asked to do a calendar shoot for the Women of Geekdom. Now, I find myself all over geekdom, but I had never met these ladies before. I was thrilled to be a part of something like this, but I had no idea of the awesomeness that was in store.

One of the candid pinup shots with Han Solo's blaster. Thanks Misti!

I flew down to Charleston, South Carolina, accompanied by the LA crew. Chloe Dykstra, who works for Wizard World, Bitmob, and Nerdist found me right away, along with Misty Dawn, co-host of the "Bagged and Boarded" podcast on the SMODCAST newtwork as well as Machinima Director, vlogger Brooke Lawson, aka Dodger, and Satine Phoenix, Dungeons & Dragons goddess.

From the first, we hit it off. How could we not? These chicks rock! Fellow ladies of geek, I know you know what I'm saying when I tell you that many of us have mostly guy friends. (We discussed this on the wrap up podcast.) Maybe it's because when we were young, it was mostly guys who were vocal about loving the same things we did. Maybe we got flack from other ladies. Maybe it's our attitudes. But for the most part, this seems to be the case across the board.

My fresh ink. All 16 of us got one!

Meeting these ladies was like a tall glass of sweet tea while walking through the Red Wastes of Essos. When we got in, there were geeky ladies everywhere! (And some geeky men to go with them.) Immediately we were chatting like crazy! Creators Shaun Rosado and his lovely wife (and mother of this idea) Laura Rosado made everything easy. They rented a house for us, gave us transportation, helped with costumes, had people get us drinks and generally acted like real-life superheroes. In minutes, Dodger, Satine and I were out doing dance stretches on the back lawn together.

There were a lot of photos like this. Geek pile!

The discussions were as geeky as you please. We talked video games, comic books, our giant collection of tattoos. Nerdy references were flying! When we found out Chloe was dressing as the 11th Doctor, the line "Bow ties are cool" was uttered every few minutes. And everyone got it!

Me and Chloe bonding over ... was it Zelda, Doctor Who or sex? Can't remember.

The bonding and deep discussions about sex, gaming, men, drawing, TV shows, films, 8-bit nostalgia and what we all want to do with our lives went into the wee hours. Fueled by wine and other assorted beverages, of course. Joining us were Dash, who was in a spandex costume she made herself when I met her, the wonderful artist Nicole, Stormy, who lives up to her name in the very best way, Christina, who I spent a lovely car ride geeking out of my mind with, Star Wars goddess Princess Sandy, who's experience getting into her mermaid costume needs a blog post of its own and the lovely Laura. (Satine and I now think we must be related!)

Me, Laura and Satine playing the Game of Geek!

I wasn't there for everyone's shoots, but mine was a blast. Dodger and I got to the location, which was spectacular and headed into the makeup trailer. Her costume was Kerrigan-based (For the Swarm!) and mine was a Valkyrie. (For the record, Valkyries wear very short skirts. I did not sit down!) After braiding my hair and painting my face, they let me out and gave me weaponry! As you all know, I love pointy and sharp things. This spear was gorgeous! In fact, I went right home and bought one! (After hanging with my good buddy Corday for a bit.)

Me and Corday, the coolest of the cool.

Despite a few delays, we got it all done and spent the night gabbing until near dawn again. I cannot tell you how refreshing it was! It was a giant slumber party with all your best friends, who you've strangely just met. The next morning we shot a Christmas day photo for December and a group poster. (Pre-shoot, Misti obliged me by taking more photos of me with weapons. But hey! They were Star Wars guns!) By the time we did that, candid shots were easy as pie, since we'd been goofing off for days.

I love when they give me weaponry!

But here is the kicker. We were all so moved and elated by the experience that we decided to get group tattoos! Spearheaded by Chloe and Satine, the idea was to get a USB symbol on our finger or wrist in white, deep enough that it would raise. Connection was the theme and all 16 of us, the ladies, the guys, everyone got that tattoo! For some of them, it was their very first one! In fact, we drove all the way to Resurrection Ink in Savanah, Georgia to get them done!

The Last Supper, post penis rice sculpture.

After an incredible dinner where the chef made a giant rice penis (not kidding), we headed over and got our ink. The guys there were a little blown away by all of us, but by the end it was a laugh fest. Also, finger tattoos HURT! Just saying.

Me getting inked!

 It was with a heavy heart that I left everyone, but I'm thrilled to say I consider each and every one of these ladies and gents a dear friend.

All the Women of Geekdom giving you the finger ... to show your our new tattoos, of course!