# Turning in my Geek Membership Card **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 18, 2002, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turning-in-my-geek-membership-card/137330 "2002-11-18T17:17:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Legomancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@Legomancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legomancer)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turning-in-my-geek-membership-card/137330/21 "2002-11-19T15:49:47Z")
Well you’ve all made me feel a lot better. I suppose part of it is the growing acceptange of geekdom into the mainstream. Time was where simply watching Star Trek would qualify you, but that’s barely entry-level these days. And please let’s not get overly hooked on semantics here aabout the word geek. I’m a geek, not a pedantic one. Whether you call it a nerd, dweeb, fanboy, loser, whatever, we all know what it being talked about here. There’s no need to dissect the terminology. To answer some specifics: **Early Out** : > [@](#): > > On the other hand, doesn’t posting all of this on the SDMB sort of reconfirm your general geekiness? Does it? I mean, how exclusive are internet message baords these days? Are they still the domain of a nerdy few? **Skerri** > [@](#): > > Since when does liking Kevin Smith make one a geek? (We are talking Kevin Smith of “Clerks/Chasing Amy/Mallrats/Dogma” fame, aren’t we?) Yes, Kevin Smith, who makes movies where characters discuss Return of the Jedi or write comic books, who also wrote ‘Green Arrow’ for a bit, and who is a regular at comic book conventions. He’s a demigod among geeks. You can’t swing a cat in a comic store without hitting four guys in trenchcoats with long hair and backwards caps. **chula** : > [@](#): > > But seriously, I’m not too familar with geek culture. This sounds like stuff that was popular with 12-year-old geeks in the early '80s. (My brother was one.) Hasn’t anything changed? Some has, particularly some of the things towards the end of my list. But the 80s were my formative geek years as well, which explains most of that. Still, I haven’t kept up with current geek fashions. \*\*ForgottenLore \*\*: The answers are neither, neither, and message boards (though I enjoy almost ANYTHING more than talking on the telephone). So anyway, I’m starting to think that maybe it’s not so much geekdom that I’m really feeling estranged from but fandom, though I would argue that participating in a certain amount of fandom is a requirement for geekdom. For example, I watch Buffy and Firefly but will usually not even open threads on them here. Why? Because I don’t really want to discuss them with other folks, and because fans, more often than not, really annoy me and actually diminish my enjoyment of the show. My tenure on the alt.tv.x-files newsgroup way back in the day was pretty much what convinced me to STOP watching the show (the reasons are somewhat complicated, and are addresed in my treatise mentioned previously). Again with Kevin Smith - I don’t like his movies, that’s fine, but it’s his fans that really get me beyond that and into hatred. There’s a fanboy geek mentality that I no longer feel connected to and in fact am somewhat repulsed by. I’m not sure whether this is something that has legitimately gotten worse or if it’s just my changing personality. Perhaps a little of both - I know that the internet has gone a long way towards making geek voices louder, and louder doesn’t necessarily mean better. Ten years ago I would never have known that there are people out there who think I’m not a true Doctor Who fan because I _only_ like the show. Nowadays I can be told that daily, without even having to look real hard. As a result, I find myself not really looking into these things or talking about them, having my simple fan voice shouted out by the uberfans, which results in me feeling less interested and involved, and the cycle continues. Anywho. Thanks for sharing in my musings. This is good fodder for my writing. ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turning-in-my-geek-membership-card/137330/22 "2002-11-19T17:01:26Z")
Stop reading slashdot. It’ll do wonders. That website sucks in soo many ways. The signal/noise ratio is pathetic. I don’t even read the comments anymore on most things. Enjoy, Steven ---
**Author:** ![zimmdogg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/d6d6ee/32.png) [@zimmdogg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimmdogg)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turning-in-my-geek-membership-card/137330/23 "2002-11-19T17:18:55Z")
There are so many other ways to be a geek - Have you: 1. Ever made a reference to some ancient philosophy, i.e., Plato’s shadows on the cave wall in casual conversation? 2. Do you regularily use words that have more than three syllables? 3. Have you ever seen/played/carried around with you the card game called “Set”? [My fiancee and I play to see who has to do the dishes… - best game ever, by the way.] 4. Do you meet people by asking - What’s your favorite book? 5. If someone says, “Wonder how that works?” do you say, “Do you really want to know?” There are other spheres of geekdom, spanning above and below the rooms of programmers with their toes on fire, but about Judas and his roleplaying ways. Don’t limit yourself - the new elite is the intellectual elite - see the book “Bobos in Paradise” by David Brooks. ---
**Author:** ![Frank\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Frank\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank_2)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turning-in-my-geek-membership-card/137330/24 "2002-11-19T17:28:05Z")
**Legomancer** , you are a special and necessary kind of geek, the Fringe Geek. You know just enough about nearly everything to converse on a somewhat even level with the Die Hard Geeks (whom you seemed to be describing). At the same time the General Geek Community can point to you in their defense and say “See, some of us are normal!” You’re kind of a language translator from GeekSpeak to NormalSpeak. Embrace it. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turning-in-my-geek-membership-card/137330/25 "2002-11-19T17:57:28Z")
Only semi-related, but some of my friends say we see certain movies “just to get our geek card punched.” As in, “I know Ep 2 is going to suck, but I have to get my geek card punched. Wanna go thursday?” PS – I left the D&D movie slot on my geek card unpunched. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turning-in-my-geek-membership-card/137330/26 "2002-11-19T18:29:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hello Again \* > \*\*PS – I left the D&D movie slot on my geek card unpunched. \*\* I think all of us did. You gotta draw the line somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Gorgon\_Heap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f475e1/32.png) [@Gorgon\_Heap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorgon_Heap)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turning-in-my-geek-membership-card/137330/27 "2002-11-19T18:33:50Z")
[qoute]_Originally posted by Jonathan Chance_ No, chula’s just pointing and laughing. It’s a time honored tradition of the ‘cool kids’. [/quote] _See!!!_ How would I know that? 😉 > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Hello Again_ > I left the D&D movie slot on my geek card unpunched. Good. It’s on par with Xena and Lost World. Bad, bad job there. I was annoyed. But, Lord of the Rings makes up for it! ---
**Author:** ![Legomancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@Legomancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legomancer)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turning-in-my-geek-membership-card/137330/28 "2002-11-19T18:48:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Terminus Est \* > \*\*I think all of us did. You gotta draw the line somewhere. \*\* If it’ll boost my rating, I **own** it on DVD. It was bought for me by a friend who knew I would have bought it for myself if I found it for $10 or less. My gaming group rented it (didn’t see it in the theater) and thought it was hilariously bad. I haven’t watched it since he gave it to me, though. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turning-in-my-geek-membership-card/137330/29 "2002-11-19T18:59:08Z")
You not only own it, but actually wanted it for yourself? Oh, yes. You’re still a certifiable geek. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turning-in-my-geek-membership-card/137330/30 "2002-11-19T20:14:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by zimmdogg \* > \*\*3. Have you ever seen/played/carried around with you the card game called “Set”? [My fiancee and I play to see who has to do the dishes… - best game ever, by the way.] > \*\* Am I the only person who is a die-hard board game and card game player, who loves logic puzzles, and who nonetheless thinks that _Set_ is the least interesting, least fun, WORST GAME EVER??? ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turning-in-my-geek-membership-card/137330/31 "2002-11-19T21:28:17Z")
GEEKS! ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turning-in-my-geek-membership-card/137330/32 "2002-11-19T22:05:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Terminus Est \* > \*\*I think all of us did. You gotta draw the line somewhere. \*\* I waited for DVD. They only gave me half a freaking stamp! **Legomancer** , if it helps, I’ve recently said to myself, “Man, this Legomancer guy just keeps posting in all the cool geeky threads I’m reading.” No one can be the Ur-geek. You can’t like all the right things and hate all the right things. It’s just not possible. There are geeks, uber-geeks, super-geeks, and alpha geeks, but they are all necessary points on the continuum. ---
**Author:** ![zimmdogg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/d6d6ee/32.png) [@zimmdogg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimmdogg)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2002, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turning-in-my-geek-membership-card/137330/33 "2002-11-20T13:38:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MaxTheVool \* > \*\*Am I the only person who is a die-hard board game and card game player, who loves logic puzzles, and who nonetheless thinks that _Set_ is the least interesting, least fun, WORST GAME EVER??? \*\* Ouch. I love that game. Oh, well, to each geek his own, right? [it’s the ONLY THING that I am consistantly better at then my fiancee. I’m grasping at straws, here…🙂] ---
**Author:** ![Scupper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Scupper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scupper)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2002, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turning-in-my-geek-membership-card/137330/34 "2002-11-20T18:34:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Legomancer \* > **Star Wars Geek** : > I like the first trilogy well enough, and my dislike of portions of Return of the Jedi are within acceptable parameters. Ditto. > [@](#): > > **General Sci-Fi Geek** : > A list of movies I haven’t seen and have no intention of seeing: X-Files, Minority Report, AI, Planet of the Apes, X-Men. There’s more I can’t think of at the moment. I don’t much care for written sci-fi. I read the first ‘Foundation’ book and it didn’t make me want to read any more. I’m not a star Trek or Babylon 5 fan, and I don’t have the Sci-Fi channel (and probably wouldn’t watch much of it if I did). Most of those movies were crap. I did like X-Men, because it was fun. Writing off sci-fi because of Foundation is like writing off sports because of golf. Still, once bitten… > [@](#): > > **Role-Playing Game Geek** : > Although I do play RPGs, and I do own a considerable number of dice, the fact that I like the d20 system is enough to disqualify me in most gaming geeks eyes. d20 is the Microsoft of RPGs, and a true geek hates it and embraces GURPS (Mac) or a homebrew system (Linux) instead. I also don’t have a problem with using preconstructed adventures, which is anathema even to d20 gamers. I only just recently got a new gaming group together, and part of the reason it took a while was because I don’t get along with most other gamers. I don’t have a problem with alignment systems, dice, or rolling up stats. For most gamers, I just spoke utter blasphemy. Eh. There are definitely different camps here. You might not be an ‘elitist’ game geek, but if you play at all, you’re a geek, brother. > [@](#): > > **General Geekiness** > In addition to the movies above, I also haven’t seen and/or don’t intend to: Blade, Evil Dead, the Crow, and a few others of that ilk. > I have seen but didn’t like as much as I should have: Highlander, Event Horizon, the Fifth Element, and the Matrix. > I despise Kevin Smith. I like the Matrix for mindless action entertainment. Evil Dead is just funny as hell. The rest, including Kevin Smith, are mediocre (with the exception of Highlander and Event Horizon, which are utter crap). > [@](#): > > I don’t like anime. I saw “Spirited Away” and liked it pretty well. Watched “Princess Mononoke” and had to hit the IMDB just to figure out who the hell Mononoke even was. I do like “Akira,” tho. > [@](#): > > I’m not a huge Tolkien fan. I’m worse. I like the movies better than the books (ducks randomly thrown brick). > [@](#): > > I’ve never read a Terry Pratchett book and to be honest I’m kind of wary of them. I’ve read two and, believe me, your wariness is justified. Pratchett seems to think he’s WAY funnier than he actually is, and it grates. ---
**Author:** ![Gazelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Gazelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gazelle)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2002, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turning-in-my-geek-membership-card/137330/35 "2002-11-20T18:39:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by VenusProbe \* > **…you’re a geek of all trades.** Oh my God, I love it! Geek-of-all-Trades. I have SO many friends to whom this moniker applies. ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2002, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turning-in-my-geek-membership-card/137330/36 "2002-11-20T19:21:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hello Again \* > \*\*PS – I left the D&D movie slot on my geek card unpunched. \*\* I used my “Watch Ten Bad Movies, Get One Free” card for that. (Then I started a new card on Scorpion King.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turning-in-my-geek-membership-card/137330.md?page=1)