Who You Calling A Geek, Geek?
At the beginning of the week Sheila wrote about geeks and what makes one a geek:
It's as good a definition as any I've come across, and to me it means just about everyone has some geek in 'em. Unless you walk through life with blinders on, devoid of curiosity, then there's probably some subject that's piqued your interest and about which you know lots more than the average Joe.
She went on to list a whole bunch of things she knows waaay too much about, as did The Big Stupid One and The Most French Hatingest French Hater in New Jersey. Thus, in keeping with my tradition of bringing up the rear with these sort of things, here's my (by no means all encompassing) list of things I know too much about. I should note that I couldn't come up with a straight forward list of ten; rather I noted some areas I geek out on in general, and then pointed to a few specifics in those areas. So, onwards...
Books
My bibliophilia is well-documented here. But there are some authors about whom I've developed a perhaps unhealthy interest.
Tolkien
I lost track of the number of times I'd read LOTR somewhere after the 21st time. I was in the Fifth grade. It's been downhill since then.
Robert E. Howard
Best known as the creator of Conan, a character since bowdlerized in movies and comic, Howard was a prolific pulp writer, mainly published in Weird Tales.* I have spent the last 20 years seeking out long out-of-print books in order to complete my collection of Howard's writings.
Movies
Only my lust for more books exceeds my desire for more DVDs. I love movies -watching them, reading about them, and of course blabbing away about them.
Star Wars
This such an obligatory geek cred that it needs no further explanation.
quotes
Quotes from favorite movies invariably wend their way into my everyday speech. Longtime favorites in rotation: "I'm just as God made me" and (of course) Clemenza's famous "I love-a you so much I'm a-gonna die" bit. And I'm just as good at identifying other's favorite quotes.
Dr. Who
Strictly speaking this television, but what the hell. Thanks to the local PBS channel I saw the entire runs of John Pertwee, Tom Baker and Peter Davidson as the Doctor. I have battered VHS copies of favorite episodes.
History
As a five year old I was riveted to the World At War documentaries, much to my mother's chagrin. Once I learned how to read and that instead of awaiting the convenience of the TV schedule I could hit the library, I was off and running.
Warbirds
In other words, airplanes of the Second World War. Robert Johnson's memoir Thunderbolt gave birth to my fascination with planes of that conflict and the men who flew them. I have a battered sketch book filled with pencil drawings of these plans and if you and I are anywhere near a museum exhibiting these planes, rest assured I'll drag you through it.
Winston Churchill
Ask me about WSC -I'm happy to go on about him. And on, and on, and on. Just an absolutely fascinating man who led a fascinating life.
Allright. I'm going to stop here- I think you get the gist so I won't inflict on you - today anyways - ramblings about baseball (Red Sox), games (video games, Poker), martial arts (uechi-ryu) or any other subjects I have a tendency to be pedantic about.
*Bonus geek tidbit: A large number of writers of varying degrees of fame (probably depending on your interest in fantasy) published in Weird Tales. Among them: Ray Bradbury, Robert Bloch, Tennessee Williams, H.P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith and E. Hoffman Price.
What "geek" seems to mean in this context is "I am incredibly passionate about something rather trivial, and I can tell you every teeny detail about that subject, and I'm kind of embarrassed at how much I know ... and yet ... here goes..."
It's as good a definition as any I've come across, and to me it means just about everyone has some geek in 'em. Unless you walk through life with blinders on, devoid of curiosity, then there's probably some subject that's piqued your interest and about which you know lots more than the average Joe.
She went on to list a whole bunch of things she knows waaay too much about, as did The Big Stupid One and The Most French Hatingest French Hater in New Jersey. Thus, in keeping with my tradition of bringing up the rear with these sort of things, here's my (by no means all encompassing) list of things I know too much about. I should note that I couldn't come up with a straight forward list of ten; rather I noted some areas I geek out on in general, and then pointed to a few specifics in those areas. So, onwards...
Books
My bibliophilia is well-documented here. But there are some authors about whom I've developed a perhaps unhealthy interest.
Tolkien
I lost track of the number of times I'd read LOTR somewhere after the 21st time. I was in the Fifth grade. It's been downhill since then.
Robert E. Howard
Best known as the creator of Conan, a character since bowdlerized in movies and comic, Howard was a prolific pulp writer, mainly published in Weird Tales.* I have spent the last 20 years seeking out long out-of-print books in order to complete my collection of Howard's writings.
Movies
Only my lust for more books exceeds my desire for more DVDs. I love movies -watching them, reading about them, and of course blabbing away about them.
Star Wars
This such an obligatory geek cred that it needs no further explanation.
quotes
Quotes from favorite movies invariably wend their way into my everyday speech. Longtime favorites in rotation: "I'm just as God made me" and (of course) Clemenza's famous "I love-a you so much I'm a-gonna die" bit. And I'm just as good at identifying other's favorite quotes.
Dr. Who
Strictly speaking this television, but what the hell. Thanks to the local PBS channel I saw the entire runs of John Pertwee, Tom Baker and Peter Davidson as the Doctor. I have battered VHS copies of favorite episodes.
History
As a five year old I was riveted to the World At War documentaries, much to my mother's chagrin. Once I learned how to read and that instead of awaiting the convenience of the TV schedule I could hit the library, I was off and running.
Warbirds
In other words, airplanes of the Second World War. Robert Johnson's memoir Thunderbolt gave birth to my fascination with planes of that conflict and the men who flew them. I have a battered sketch book filled with pencil drawings of these plans and if you and I are anywhere near a museum exhibiting these planes, rest assured I'll drag you through it.
Winston Churchill
Ask me about WSC -I'm happy to go on about him. And on, and on, and on. Just an absolutely fascinating man who led a fascinating life.
Allright. I'm going to stop here- I think you get the gist so I won't inflict on you - today anyways - ramblings about baseball (Red Sox), games (video games, Poker), martial arts (uechi-ryu) or any other subjects I have a tendency to be pedantic about.
*Bonus geek tidbit: A large number of writers of varying degrees of fame (probably depending on your interest in fantasy) published in Weird Tales. Among them: Ray Bradbury, Robert Bloch, Tennessee Williams, H.P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith and E. Hoffman Price.
<< Home