Geeks Don't Bite
/Space Commander Hoda on the S.S. Algonquin
I was fortunate enough to have our resident Trekker (the more respected term for a Star Trek lover than the popular Trekkie) Hoda, pose for a few pictures on Halloween two weeks ago. She divulged her love of the new Star Trek movies while she posed on what was clearly a real ladder on the Enterprise. Dressed in Star Trek ketchup red, my model — my muse for the day —whether she is a true geek or was just playing one for Halloween, proved to me what I’ve been saying all along: geeks and geek culture are on the rise.
Before it was cool to have gadgets and thick-rimmed glasses and to be a little socially awkward, there was a certain amount of shame felt by those who preferred the light of their monitors to the light of the sun. (Geeks and vampires are not synonymous despite my implication) An entire culture stayed underground and hid their innate desire to be geeks.
Now however, you’ll find wizards wielding magic cards in place of the old Monday night football crowd at the pub. Lady geeks getting superhero manis at The Comic Book Shoppe on Bank St., and Dungeon and Dragons players living out their fantasy roles on campus at Ottawa U. And for those who aren’t really geeks, but just want to capitalize on the trend, there are plenty of Super Mario, Batman, or Thor graphic T’s out there to satisfy the trend.
The thing I’m discovering that I like most about geek culture, the thing that runs deeper than wicked superheroes and the greatness that is the iPhone, the iPad, or the iAnything, is the inclusive nature of geek culture.
Geeks, who now claim the majority (so it seems), could take this opportunity to outcast the non-geeks and push the technologically non-gifted back into gyms and the other non-geeky places they came from; but they won’t.
Every geek I know, who I've spoken to about my blog, was happy to contribute in some way: Hoda modelling her Trek attire — and doing a fine job I might add, Miss Emilie Louise, sweetly inviting me to her pub magic night, and my patient guy, who has taken me to every superhero movie this year, a task that has surely pained him.
On my journey to geekin' out, discovering geeks love to share and inspire their passions has been a relief for this nerdy, non-gadgety girl.
