Gamestorm 14

The list of conventions I go to every year has been more or less set in stone for the better part of a decade.

There have been a few outliers - SCARAB, for example. I've been to Origins twice. My wife went to Kublacon a few years back. But, for the most part, my convention schedule has been pretty well set.

The first convention I go to every year is over Easter weekend. It's NorWesCon - it's the largest Sci-Fi/Fantasy convention in the Northwest. And, for years, I loved it. It was a haven for me, and a convenient place to see friends that I would only see there. I haven't been in a few years and - sadly - I find myself not missing the convention itself.

Then, in August, I go to GenCon. North America's largest tabletop gaming convention. The highlight of my year. Every single year.

Some years, I go to Dragonflight. It's small, it's local, it's filled with people I know and like.

I'd like to go to SCARAB again - I had a great time the year I was there. But North Carolina is a long ways from Seattle, so it's probably not a convention I can do every year.

About a decade ago, while at WesterCon, I saw that the board game library was sponsored by "GameStorm."  I figured it was one of the (rare) local game stores that I was unaware of. I never did any further research into it, because I saw a T-shirt that indicated it was in Portland.

A few years later, a friend of mine mentioned it to me.  It's a convention. And, apparently, it's pretty good. And it's close enough that I can theoretically drive there and back every day if I wanted to. Or crash at my Mother-In-Law's place, which is in Portland.

I mentioned it - in passing - to my wife one day. A week later, she had purchased our badges. "It happens," she told me, "around your birthday."

Those of you who know me in person know this, but a lot of you out there in internet-land don't: I don't make a big deal about my birthday.  I won't say I don't celebrate, but I generally dislike being the center of attention unless it's something under my control. And I don't control my birthday.

But I do enjoy the gifts she gives me.

So I'll be at GameStorm this year.

I'll let you know how it goes.