Epic Nerd Camp is a 5-day summer camp for adults in Pennsylvania's Poconos Mountains that celebrates cosplay, LARPing, RPGs, Quidditch, escape rooms, swordplay, wizarding, and many other special interests popular among geeks. The Washington Post's Karen Heller paid a visit:

ENC was the brainchild of Kim Kjessler, 37, a former dolphin trainer, and her 26-year-old chef husband, Bentley. “I designed a camp that I wanted to go to,” she said in the Arts and Crafts shed, where campers created wizard staffs, leather apothecary cuffs and Edvard Munch-like portraits of a “Last Jedi” porg.

She was inspired by gaming gatherings such as BlizzCon, where she met Bentley five years ago. “I love conventions, but they’re not tailored to making friends. It’s hard to make friends as adults.” She wanted camp activities and camaraderie. A sort of Burning Nerd...

ENC promotes two overarching tenets: You’re free to be who you are, and this is a no-judgment zone. “If you’re looking for some nerds to troll/bully, ENC is not for you,” the camp website states. “We’ll boot you out and keep your money.”

Participants described middle and high school as an interminable hell. They had to become adults, and wait for the world to change, to gain acceptance, and find their tribe. Yet it can still be hard to fully unleash their inner geeky selves.

"‘Growing up, we were the weird ones’: The wizarding, mermaiding, cosplaying haven of Epic Nerd Camp" (Washington Post via NextDraft)

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Hipster quirkcore band Superorganism recorded this delightful live performance replete with sounds made by toy cars, apples, and soda cans. Read the rest

LilyPichu went to IndyPopCon with a melodica, then followed random cosplayers around while playing the songs from their game, film, or show. The different reactions are priceless. Read the rest

Czech designer Michal Sobel couldn't deal with the ad world any more, so he left to make art celebrating his favorite thing: space exploration. Read the rest

The fine folks behind the series CrapShots did this very funny short clip called The Shipping, on the inevitable outcome of the race for faster packing shipping speeds. Read the rest

These images prove what we've long known here at Boing Boing: Dedication and true fandom trump how much you have in your bank account to spend on cosplaying your favorite comics, sci fi, or anime characters. Follow LowCostCosplay on Facebook or Instagram. Read the rest

Did you know that "fuck" is a legitimate word in Scrabble? Enjoy stand-up comedian DeAnne Smith's, cute, catchy video. Read the rest

This gentleman has an opinion. And he can see you, you little rats.

EDIT: Just wanted to clarify that this is Alex Jones. The same gentleman from the "deport Piers Morgan" interview with Piers Morgan. This particular clip comes from 2011, but with Jones in the news, it seemed funny and relevant. Read the rest