Well, for my first post, I wanted to talk a bit about some of my hobbies. Mainly because I don't hear about them very often in the conservative sites that I go to, and I want to trumpet them a bit.
My primary focus on my free time goes to Miniature Wargaming. More specifically Warhammer 40,000 (check out
Games Workshop for more information). I will leave the in depth reasons why I got into the hobby for a later date because I wanted this post to focus on why I think more people should play. When was the last time you sat down and made something? Have you ever looked at a cardboard tube, a pile of sand, and a used light switch and said, "I can make something out of this." Unfortunately, I doubt many people have in just as many years.
In 2000 I began to volunteer for Games Workshop as an Outrider (I show off the game, they give me free product. win-win if you ask me). I began to get more and more involved. I began to talk to other fans of the hobby and see what it would do to people. I began to get kids (12-16) that would come to me with wild ideas in their heads about what they wanted to do next, or what they should do for their armies. But more importantly, I
SAW them. I would spend time at hobby and game stores, and I would see them working on their models, playing games, being social. I saw kids that weren't the "popular" kids, but they would still be accepted. Obviously some of the same issues common to kids would still be there, but overall they would show up, and always be able to find an opponent, or a conversation to get involved in.
One of the best situations I ever saw though was a parent that came up to me and thanked me for getting his son interested because it was helping his son to realize the benefits of work and responsibility. The son wanted to know what chores he could do, and even above and beyond what he was normally responsible for.
In conclusion, I hope you found my first post somewhat interesting. I love games, and love that my 5 year old son is starting to get interested in my games. He's still young for Warhammer, but that's ok, you can't start out eating steak.