To say I am beside myself would be an understatement; I’m so excited I think I actually peed myself a little (and no it’s not an undiagnosed bladder problem). After weeks of waiting with bated breath and checking my email account numerous times a day, the thing I’ve been waiting for finally arrived this morning. I was so excited I went screaming upstairs, calling out to the lords that be, my ever grateful thanks; my Husband on the other hand thought I was announcing the apocalypse or barring that, the house was on fire at the very least. But what had me so worked up I hear you cry!! I received an email from the Minions Overlord summoning me to assemble for the next Emerald City ComicCon in Seattle next March. SQUEEEEEE!!!!!! As if this wasn’t a big enough deal in my world, I also get to spend 3 days in one of my favourite cities AND wear an iconic ECCC minion shirt (Be still my beating heart).
If you’ve managed to stay awake and read this far, one thing will now have become apparent; I am a geek girl and I’m proud of that fact. I still read comic books; enjoy old sci-fi shows as diverse as Dr. Who and Red Dwarf, fan girl over Michael Sheppard and desperately want to wear the red ensign jersey while having a guided tour around Babylon 5 (after all nothing could possibly happen to me, right?) But the main reason for my writing this post, apart from sharing my (oh yeah and did I mention Hubby was chosen too) good news about being found worthy, was to talk about the whole geek issue. Everyone is a geek about something, yes even you. Being a geek means you have a passion for something in your life outside of that which pays the bills and, unless you are extremely lucky, not many of us have a passion for that part of our lives.
Remember though that to be a self-declared geek has not always been the wisest, or safest, course of action for many people; all of a sudden geeks became cool and it seemed like it happened overnight. Many of us went to bed in the back of the ‘geek’ closet and woke up on the White House lawn (figuratively speaking that is otherwise I would be in a place that doesn’t have electricity never mind Wi-Fi). The trademark large black-rimmed spectacles and unmistakable awkward dress standards are suddenly fashionable in mainstream and celebrity circles; it even has its own term ‘geek chic’. The world has now started embracing the geek (light your Zippos and sway with me people, Are we about to see ‘Geek-Aid’?) meaning that lovers of cosplay, video games and even comic books can now meet in the open, and not in shady backrooms in the seedy part of town; they can announce their upcoming gatherings (as in the case of ECCC) and know that thousands will attend with no fear of the ‘jocks’ bearing down on them (see what I did there?) and spoiling the fun. Many of those closet hiding geeks are the ones that are responsible for it becoming popular they, and the rest of us that wear the tag proudly, can be seen in some ways to be rebels against the world (or in my case rebel without a clue); from Steve Jobs to the ethical hackers (white hats) who strive to expose security loopholes in computer systems in the hopes of improving things for all us, from the Whovian to the diehard MMORPG raider, all are considered to be non-conformist.
Being a geek is remaining in touch with your inner child and letting it have free rein, although for mine I can’t let it play with matches. It means doing what makes you happy, and letting the world know you are having fun doing it. Why is it, for some, seeing someone else happy and enjoying their life is the quickest way to piss them off? I have a theory about this, and yes it probably won’t make sense to anyone but me, but I think that they are pissed off because they haven’t discovered their passion, or they have had it ingrained into them that now, as adults, they may no longer partake in the action figure collecting they enjoyed as children. I also think that many of them are pissed off because it’s not how far you can throw a football anymore that makes you cool, after all looking at the salaries they receive it’s a job not a passion for many, but how long it took you to make your Black Lung Captain costume for Pirates Day or that you may be able to name all the tribbles that appeared in ‘that’ show. If I had to choose between spending time at a gathering of geeks or an all paid trip to a top-notch resort, I’d definitely take the gathering, after all it would be a lot more interesting and a lot more fun. Geeks are the ones people gravitate to when they appear somewhere unexpected. How do I know this? To ring in New Year 2013, my Hubbs and I went to a fancy dress party as part of a couples retreat ran by our Unit at the Bellevue Hyatt (very upmarket), I dressed as the Queen of Hearts from The Looking Glass Wars and Hubbs bravely donned his Dark Mad Hatter persona. A normal 10 minute trek to the smoking pole (yes, we’re smokers so sue me) took over an hour. People were stopping us for pictures and we ended up in the club at the Hotel been wined by the ‘normal’ folks. Our picture even appeared in a society piece for the event; how awesome is that?
Any more doubts that geeks are the new cool? Not anymore.
MINIONS ASSEMBLE!!!! SO SAY WE ALL!!
Minions Overlord
“Being a geek is all about being honest about what you enjoy and not being afraid to demonstrate that affection. It means never having to play it cool about how much you like something. It’s basically a license to proudly emote on a somewhat childish level rather than behave like a supposed adult. Being a geek is extremely liberating.”
~ Simon Pegg
Living in our World 