A few weeks ago, I paused to watch some kid at the movie theater playing a…um…some video game. I stopped because his little face was so full of rapture, it was adorable. He looked at me, excitement shining in his eyes. “Isn’t this game so cool?”

“It…uh…” I searched for something relevant to say. “It has pretty colors.”

Yes, it’s true. The only thing I know about video games is that they often have pretty colors. And very annoying noises.

Aside from a few bouts with Pac Man and Donkey Kong in the ‘80s, I am a complete video game virgin. I don’t know a joystick from…some other gaming thingee that starts with a ‘j.’

Why am I like this? I don’t know, since I grew up in the halcyon days of the ‘80s generation, when gaming was all the craze. In eighth grade, I even dated a boy who was the state champion at some game. He talked about gaming until my eyes glazed over, but I didn’t learn a thing. I ended up dumping him.

For years, gamers have seemed like some sort of secret society to me, weird and smart and kind of mean. Maybe these prejudices come from when I would hang around on the outskirts of groups playing Dungeons and Dragons at school and sleepaway camp, and they never asked me to play. Not once. Gamers are mean!

Once, I sent Ingrid an e-mail asking about playing online porgs, and she made fun of me. Gamers are mean!

But really, my ideas of the whole industry started to change when I met the fabulous Play-Girlz, Ingrid and Erin. What smart, funny, sweet, kind, wonderful people! I bet they would invite me to play Dungeons and Dragons.

So when Ingrid came up with the idea for this blog, I was intrigued. I mean, gaming is such a huge mystery that I know nothing about. And to be honest, I’ve spent a big portion of my life intimidated by the whole movement.

So this blog is a journey to learn what I can about the gaming world, the games and the people and the crazy way of life. Maybe I’ll have fun. Maybe I’ll find out many gamers are like the Play-Girlz. Maybe I’ll even survive.

Well, here I go. Anybody want to go with me?