My wife takes the train into Boston. This is her commute to work. She’s met and made friends with any number of people on the train. One of these people is a guy I’ll call “Tom”. I’ve met Tom myself and learned that he and I have similar tastes in many things – books, movies etc. By this I mean that we both enjoy sci-fi, fantasy and related genres.
The other day my wife tells me that Tom won’t read certain books on the train. Why? Because he’s afraid of looking like a geek. A grown man!
I had no idea people gave a damn about this sort of thing. I myself have no problem reading anything in a public place, up to and including comic books.
So that’s what this thread is all about. A safe haven for people to declare their geekiness. Maybe people like Tom will see it and draw some inspiration.
Me? I like sci-fi, fantasy, Buffy, comic books, Role-Playing, computer games, Collectable Card games and probably lots of things I can’t remember right now. I do not live in my parent’s basement. I live with my wife of five years. I even have sex on occasion. Immagine that!
Definitely geeky chick checking in here. Proud of it! I love computers, neat number combinations that I find in life, lots and lots of books, esp. fantasy and sci-fi, rock and gem collecting, oh, lots and lots of geeky things!
I think I have the opposite problem. I have a number of Taoist texts and other philosophy on my Palm to read when I get stuck waiting anywhere. This is mostly just convenience, but it also allows me to read non-geek while still advertising the fact that I am one.
Acknowledged geek checking in here. Hardcore D&D player, still enjoy cartoons and comic books, read fantasy and sci-fi, love computer games, and can get into long conversations on technical topics. Plus, I’m an engineer, which makes you an honorary geek anyhow.
The nicest compliment I ever got was one of my friends’ wives, who looked at me in surprise after I’d gotten into a conversation regarding computer upgrades and video card comparisons and remarked, “You know about this stuff?” When I told her yes, she exclaimed, “Wow, you sure don’t LOOK like a geek!”
I met Mr. Rilch when I was in my last year of college. He had graduated the year before and was taking the same acting class as me for the heck of it. So we’re both 23, is the point.
We were standing around outside during smoke break, and I noticed the gadget on his keychain.
“What’s that?”
“[mumble]It’s a Star Trek keychain.”
“Oh, what does it do?”
“[mortified]It makes sound effects from the show. When you push the buttons.”
“Ooh! What’s that sound?”
“That’s a phaser.”
“What’s that?”
“[dying]That’s a door opening.”
And so on, through all eight buttons. He was thinking at the time, “This is it; she’s going to run the other way,” but I was fascinated. I’d never been conditioned to avoid so-called geeks, plus I was mildly curious about the show, which at the time was in its Next Gen-Best-of-Both-Worlds phase. He’s said many times since then that it’s amazing that what’s usually a huge red flag to girls the age we were was an attraction to me.
He also had a Borg action figure on his keychain. I’ll let you imagine what it was like for him to explain that one.
This is the first time I’ve been able to check on this thread in the 24 hours or so since I posted it. I’m mildly surprised at the low number of responses. I suppose I shoulden’t be - all my good ideas aren’t appreciated.
I’m a geek here, and not afraid to say it! I’m not an engineer (they’re scary), but studying computer science, so close enough. I enjoy D&D, comics, and of course more than enough time on anything computer related. I have a calculator on my watch (yes, it’s so cool!), and I read computer books for fun. Computer books like 300-page user guides for old programs, or for things I don’t even have. More knowledge is good!
I run Linux on my computer because
I got too impatient with windows
freezing and crashing, and I got
sick of spam, so I got my own e mail server
on it, and now I can bounce spam, have any
email address at my domain.org
I’m a geek. I built my own computer (well, purchased and assembled the components, anyway), have lots of Magic: the Gathering[sup]tm[/sup] cards (and still actually play), play RPGs and computer games, watch cartoons, majored in biology in college but work with computers, etc. I even took organic chemistry in college just for fun! And an extra year of physics. And astronomy. I collect and paint Warhammer and Warhammer 40K figures. I play(ed) Star Fleet Battles (even meticulously took apart the rule book, put each page into a sheet protector, then put everything into a binder. Did the same with all of the SSDs).
Where my geekiness falls short, however, is that a) I don’t read much, and b) I have a poor memory. So, unfortunately, I can’t really get into extended geek discussions about much of anything.
I’m not suprised at the low number of responses. As a rule geeks aren’t particularly gregarious. They don’t care about public appreciation, so why go out of their way to declare it? Besides, the true geeks are easy to spot for someone who is reasonably observant of behavior(not physical characteristics, that is a very inaccurate stereotype).
I was a stoner in high-school waaay back in 1976. I came out as a geek in 1981 when I discovered scifi/fantasy and became a technician on the first generation office pc’s.
1 kilobyte of mem was huge on those first puppies. They didn’t do a whole lot either. Mostly word processing. Some of the first ones I worked on you could use as a small computer desk today they were so big.
I’m a geek and proud of it. I read comics regularly. I don’t roleplay much anymore but I still have my old books and read them from time to time. In the last four years I have missed a total of three episodes of any Star Trek series. (Which I have seen in reruns since.)
A person who is single-minded or accomplished in scientific or technical pursuits but is felt to be socially inept.
A carnival performer whose show consists of bizarre acts, such as biting the head off a live chicken.
I am definitely not number 1.
Definition 2 is more like it…though I tend to not be single-minded, more like scatter-brained because I enjoy many different things. I was socially inept for many years but got over it because I got tired of feeling left out.
I like all things technical but I have particular tastes in science fiction and fantasy. I stopped playing RPGs when I was a teenager. I tried it once as an adult and found that it was still fun to role play but I couldn’t stand some of the people in the group who took it waaaaaaay to seriously.
I have never been a carnival performer IRL but I play one on the Internet.
I am a Rush Geek.
I have always loved Rush. Way back in the 80s when my friends were all moonwalking or dressing like Madonna, my only dream was to marry Neil Peart. I had one tape in my car, Moving Pictures. Now that I’m older and wiser, I only have two CDs, Moving Pictures and 2112 (although at one time I had all of their stuff).
It seems to be the only music I can truly enjoy; everything else is just background noise.
The effect this has had on me?
It seems the older I get, the more I resemble Geddy Lee.
