Geeking Out
Put me on the nerd beat, and I'll love you forever.
My soul always craves things that supposedly weren't cool to like as a high school kid in the '90s. Contributing to the Nerd Bastards blog way back in 2010 gave me an escape from the doldrums of my day job, and I've carried my geeky streak with me to many publications and employers. I've written about so much dorkdom that the Riverfront Times had to create a "Nerdgasm" blog tag (now defunct, thanks to a new CMS) just for my stories.
A sampling is below, and links are provided when possible. Please note that screengrabs do not necessarily represent how the stories looked when they were first published; new systems have changed the layouts and altered some images.

Cover story (print and digital) on how a traveling comic con that's making its way to St. Louis has changed its sometimes-sketchy business model over the years, leaving some comics fans out of the fun. Story for Riverfront Times. Link to full story: http://bit.ly/2sr64Hp

Main feature (print and digital) about Wizard World's first foray into Minneapolis and why some comic book fans aren't happy about it. Original concept ran in St. Louis, and I conducted extra interviews to skin this version specifically for Minneapolis. Story for City Pages. Link to full story: http://bit.ly/2tu337p

Blog post for City Pages about comic book shop owners who say Wizard World comic con purposely squashed their businesses.Served as a sidebar to my feature story above. Link to full story: http://bit.ly/2rDjjle

Blog post for BrainJet about AI that debuted at SXSWi. Link to full story (via Wayback Machine): http://bit.ly/2sMLrFI. Link to more SXSW coverage: http://bit.ly/2iSaAbw

Blog post for Riverfront Times about the lack of women in toys. Link to full story: http://bit.ly/2rShe9l

Blog post for Riverfront Times about a local video game house getting yet another honor. Link to full story: http://bit.ly/2sBHe5Y

Print and digital story for Riverfront Times about a bakery owner indulging in her Harry Potter fandom for an entire month: http://bit.ly/2wFYHeV

Blog post for Riverfront Times about the first-ever nerd night at Busch Stadium. Link to full story: http://bit.ly/2sXZrLd

Blog post for Riverfront Times about how Star Wars Night at Busch Stadium went very, very wrong. Link to full story: http://bit.ly/2seokoW

Blog post for Riverfront Times about a long-waged battle. Link to full story: http://bit.ly/2theuSS

Blog post for BrainJet about an immersive virtual reality game featured at SXSWi. Link to full story (via Wayback Machine): http://bit.ly/2siak8L. Link to more SXSW coverage: http://bit.ly/2iSaAbw

Featured event recap about Sonic Boom for Riverfront Times. Link to full story: http://bit.ly/2sNZECk

Blog post for Riverfront Times about a St. Louis-based enterprise that has since taken off nationally. Link to full story: http://bit.ly/2sekbB8

Blog post for BrainJet about hoax app Rumblr. Link: http://bit.ly/2tgTKuw

Blog post for City Pages about prolific actor James Hong's Minneapolis homecoming. Bonus content related to my Wizard World feature story. Link to full story: http://bit.ly/2rVUiBd

Review of episode one of The Walking Dead for Nerd Bastards. Link to full story: http://bit.ly/2tVhUbe

Review of the 38461th Harry Potter movie for ReviewSTL. Link to full story: http://bit.ly/2seW71d

Blog post for Riverfront Times about what comic book shop owners say is the best way to experience Free Comic Book Day. Link to full story: http://bit.ly/2sRiwAF

For Riverfront Times, the Free Comic Book Day guide that nobody knew they needed. Link to full story: http://bit.ly/2tTn6wi

Featured blog post for Nerd Bastards about stuff that doesn't even matter anymore now that Disney owns Star Wars. Link to full story: http://bit.ly/2tiyJj8

Blog post for Nerd Bastards about a Back to the Future reunion. Link to full story: http://bit.ly/2rfcslZ

Blog post for Riverfront Times about local comic book artists and filmmakers going big. Link to full story and preview issue: http://bit.ly/2sqRAqW

Blog post for Nerd Bastards about the return of Beavis & Butthead. Link to full story: http://bit.ly/2ufqZLq

Entertainment feature for Riverfront Times (print and digital) about a band that transformed itself into a popular traveling My Little Pony tribute. Link to full story: http://bit.ly/2rD0rTL

Blog post for Riverfront Times about the nerdiest engagement ever. Link to full story: http://bit.ly/2tkeOR1

Blog post for Riverfront Times about finding love after a convention. Link to full story: http://bit.ly/2uf6Eps

Blog post for ReviewSTL about yet another Star Wars thing. Link to full story: http://bit.ly/2tUWM4Z

Blog post for Nerd Bastards about the day the music died. Link to full story: http://bit.ly/2rH1JiM