What is Chicks With Dice?
Melbonia and Nene as Erin and Freija
ChicksWithDice.com is an idea that originated when Nene decided that like most of her other friends (specifically those in the web design business), she wanted a blog. The problem was that where Whimsy speaks about her mildly disgusting yet always entertaining bowel issues and CSSquirrel writes about his also entertaining views on the world of the wide wide web, Nene didn't want to just write about her relatively normal life with her husband, two cats, and a ferret. However, finding something unique to talk about isn't always easy or fun, and an obsession with My Little Ponies may be entertaining for people to read about once in a while, but a continuing discussion on it... well, the fact of the matter is that she wasn't really sure she could even talk about the cute plastic toys week after week and month after month. In the end, much brainstorming, brain poking, and other brain related things ensued and Nene decided that she would write a blog about one of her biggest loves: gaming in all it's shapes and sizes.
After the decision was made, Whimsy oh-so-casually asked (as she loves gaming just as much), if perhaps Nene would be willing to have guest writers on the site. And so, by invitation, Whimsy and Melbonia were asked if they would like to post every so often on chickswithdice.com. And thus, the site was created.
Who are "The Girls"?
Nene
October 2008
Born down south in California, Janae Wiedmaier used to consider herself Californian, even if she moved away when she was six and a half. At first, adapting to Washington's cooler climate was a trial, but there's not much more she loves than her Evergreen State. The truth of the matter is, as much as she'd like to visit other places, Washington will always be her home. Bellingham, specifically, has acheived a warm place in her heart with it's scenic city-scape and beautiful surrounding hills, forests, and lakes. However, what really makes the place special is the people.
Nene works full time for a web design and development business named Mindfly, and she also works for the local branch of Waldenbooks on the side when she wants to pick up an extra few books, take advantage of employee discounts, and catch up with her friends who work there.
She is happily married to her husband, Nick, and enjoys spending what evenings she gets with him relaxing with her two cats and one ferret. Most of this relaxing is spent doing, you guessed it, gaming. When she isn't LARPing on Friday Nights, playing Exalted with her crew on Wednesdays, or getting together for random other games happening in World of Darkness, she plays World of Warcraft, writes on Pale Ravens, and tinkers around with her Playstation 2 while dreaming of saving for an Xbox 360. It will happen and she will get Ninety-Nine Nights.
Horribly addicted to all things cute and cuddly, gadgety, and generally ridiculous, Nene also loves tiny animals ranging from rodents to rabbits, her iPhone, macaroni and cheese, artichoke hearts, shoes, and My Little Ponies.
Guest Authors
Melbonia
Born to soak in rain and fear sunshine, Miss Melbonia started life in the grand city of Tacoma, WA. She moved to Bellingham WA by 2, hoping to become Canadian and get better healthcare. Despite these grand beginnings, she fell to the lure of Dungeons & Dragons at the wee age of 9ish. Back then, her gaming concerns and joys were basically "what the hell is a THAC0?!" and "Wow Pink Floyd makes a creepy soundtrack for the Underdark!", only throw in more tiny brained wordings and punctuations. She quickly grew to enjoy the game despite smelling the large sweaty pot-head friends of her Uncle's for hours, and soon pestered her father to run campaigns for her and her much suffering sister. Soon, the love affair with pretending to be someone else was cemented in Melbonia’s brain. High School was a trick, but then again it always is.
Although preferences have changed over the years, Melbonia still prefers gaming to other methods of relaxation/social conduct. She has a soft spot in her heart for all things White Wolf, and most things fantasy. Somewhere along the line she managed to snag a fellow gamer for co-operative housing and cat sitting arrangements and the poor guy hasn’t escaped yet.
When not prowling the local college in costume or crashing on a friend’s couch for a table top game, Melbonia works diligently on packages and mailing at a local post and parcel place. She can also be found rocking out on her Xbox or pestering her boyfriend to pee himself playing scary video games for her amusement.
Keeping in format with Mrs. Nene here, Melbonia has an unhealthy obsession with knee socks, fennec foxes, horror games, and mint.
Whimsy
Born as a small hobgoblin in sunny California, Karina Beattiger spent most of her life traveling from state to state and developing a healthy fear of spatial commitment. As a young girl, she felt it was her duty to try to fit in with all of her other classmates, but this plan failed spectacularly with the first (second, third, and eighth) boy she french kissed in first grade. After a brief, embarrassing stint as a freshman in high school, in which she attempted to defy all known fashion rules regarding the colors magenta, teal and purple, she stopped trying to be That Girl(tm) and instead became the unstoppable force of personality that she is today.
Her gaming career began in the fifth grade, when she began life as a lowly peasant priestess and worked her way up to become Archmage of a magical school for magical people what do magical things and Regent to the Ard Righ. With such a modest start, it's no wonder that she took her love of all things historical, romantic, and slightly bent and applied it to a new hobby. Slash obsession. In this city alone, she's spent nine of her nine years here dressing up and pretending to be various werewolves, changelings, vampires, and even briefly a cyber-decker with very short vinyl shorts. And a feather boa.
When she's not engaging in dangerously high levels of obsession, she writes paranormal romance, takes care of three cats, a snake, a rabbit and a husband, plays the odd video game, reads, hangs out with the other two pretties here, and generally avoids people.
Karina enjoys long walks on the beach, diamonds, money, and cranberry and vodka. And animals. And her husband, on occasion.