LAN Party: Day 1

About six months ago, I moved into a house with four of my best friends I've made whilst in school up here in Dallas. This may not sound weird in and of itself, but it's a bit amusing when one considers the fact that I am the only girl living here.

Despite what many people may think, this has never caused any problems. We had a really smooth transition, I think partially because I was already such good friends with them and partially because I'm a lot more chill and relaxed than a lot of other girls.

Another major factor contributing to the harmony is that we are all geeks. Normally, I'd be inclined to think I was just as geeky as the guys. Now I think I'm just as geeky, but in some very different ways. This weekend will be my first experience with a LAN party, and it has been quite curious so far.

For those not attuned to computer geek culture, Urban Dictionary defines a LAN party as "A party where people bring their own computers, hook them up, and game all night long with each other. Also involves mass consumption of caffeine and junk food."

The first thing I noticed upon waking up this morning was the sound of the vacuum cleaner. This was strange because any time anyone has used the vacuum cleaner other than me, it's been when I asked someone to help me clean. When I emerged from my bedroom an hour later, all of our furniture had been reconfigured. Our couches had been moved from the living room to the dining room, and the process had begun of most of The Roommates' moving of their desks and computers from their rooms to the living room and setting up desks for those coming for just the weekend.

After returning from lunch, two of our guests had arrived and were in the midst of setting up THEIR computers in the living room. Looking down the room, I am now reminded of a messier Mission Control with all the computers and monitors. And that brings me to another staple of the hard-core gamer: everyone has at LEAST two monitors.

And that's the status as of May 30, 2014, at 5:51 PM. I'm not sure the "Official LAN" has begun yet because there hasn't been a single unifying game that they've all played yet; people have either been playing Hearthstone (which is basically Magic: the Gathering, but online) or their own one-player games or YouTube videos. Additionally, another two of our friends who live in the area haven't moved their computers in, AND one of The Roommates' girlfriend and her siblings haven't arrived in Dallas yet.

I'm really curious to see how everyone ends up fitting their computers and themselves in the house, since it seems that people won't be leaving for most of the weekend. Cabin fever hasn't set in yet, but with all these people in the house, I'm sure a retreat into my room will happen at some point.