I went to my first sci-fi/anime convention yesterday (Con Nooga in Chattanooga, TN), and it was almost everything I hoped it would be. There was a costume contest and a gaming tournament (actually more of a room with lots of consoles in it) and tons of other stuff to do. I actually enjoyed talking to strangers there too. There are actually a lot more socially adept nerds than I gave the culture credit for. Of course, there are the kind of people who would sit down to a game of Munchkins with us and lewdly hit on my good friends (one of whom is married to the guy she was sitting NEXT TO). I berated him in no uncertain terms (well, vaguely