By James L. (JimiJam)
When I really think about it, I have to ask: Do we really need a day to celebrate our geekness? Every day seems dedicated to one geeky endeavor or
Geek Squad
another. Whether we know the difference between Java and Javascript, we’re all computer geeks to a degree, and we certainly rely on geeks when it comes to building, selling, or maintaining our computers. Who doesn’t have that one friend or family member who always knows just how to straighten things out when the PC doesn’t seem to be running right?
It’s probably likely that most everyone seems to know at least one geek, if not an entire pack of geeks, of almost limitless varieties, shapes, and sizes:
Tekkoshocon 2010
Star Trek Convention
Maybe you’ve got a father who can’t get enough star trek, or a brother who dresses like a Wookie on the weekends; maybe it’s a son who can’t be bothered to pause video games long enough for a proper bathroom break; perhaps it’s a brother in law who tinkers with computers both on the job and off; Or maybe, just maybe, it’s you yourself, fascinated by any given subject to a degree that the average passer by would clearly identify (and quite possibly admire) as geeky.
Of course, it wasn’t always this way. When I was a kid, being called a “geek” wasn’t exactly a good thing. Along the lines of “spaz” or “dweeb”, “geek” was the kind of thing that got thrown at you during recess, when they weren’t throwing dodgeballs (with less than playful intent). In the term’s early years, a geek was even worse than a simple insult; once upon a time, the “geek” was the circus performer who sat in a cage, behaving like a primitive proto-human beast, biting the heads off of chickens and growling at passers by. Fortunately, we’ve come a long way since then.
Dungeons and Dragons
Gone are the days of lamenting the label; here are days in which people not only wear the mantle of geekhood gladly, but boldly and proudly as well. Geeks are no longer tormented, but celebrated. We have entire catalogs, collections of some of the oddest and yet coolest items imaginable, dedicated to the Geek Culture. We have t-shirts that proudly brandish our geek status. We have conventions at which we may join other geeks in celebrating the specific branch of geekness to which we ascribe. Geeks, with all their awkward foibles and oft-neglected attention to the fashionable, have suddenly risen to levels of recognition formerly reserved for the dazzling and glamorous. It’s no longer uncommon to see celebrities walking the red
Tenth Doctors
carpet not in designer and expensive couture, but sporting what is now known as “Geek Chic”. Somehow, against steep odds, geekness has managed to work its way into the mainstream. From business to entertainment, from the specific to the common, these days geeks are just plain cool.
Geekness seems to have become as accepted as sunshine, and as normal as rain. And yet, despite its now dominant role our lives, an entire day has been set aside, presumably for those still unaware that geekness is not only allowed but encouraged. July 13th is Embrace Your Geekness day, a day on which any of us and all of us can and should let our Geek flags fly!
fire the cathode ray tube beam toward the oncoming blips. Little did anyone realize, a multi-billion dollar industry was born.
true potential. While many of the first home consoles (Atari, CalecoVision, Intellivision) found some success in the early ‘80s, it was largely due to what is now known as the Golden Age of Video Arcade Games that gaming truly came into its own. Memorable classics such as Pac-Man, Defender, Space Invaders, and Centipede quickly became buzzwords in America’s pop-cultural vernacular.
released an army of consoles and formats, and have consistently revolutionized the notion of home entertainment. We’ve seen games grow from simple single screen spritefests to immense and beautifully depicted virtual environments set as the backdrop for ongoing storylines and multifaceted plots more complex than the modern movie trilogy can express. These days, gamers don’t just play for the simple thrill of a few satisfying bleeps; today’s gamers immerse themselves into the roles of their characters, roving virtual landscapes in teams and squads with comrades networked across the world, perpetuating limitless plotlines and participating in nothing less than modern mythmaking, taking the labels of hero and villain alike onto themselves.
state without their trusted Ray-Bans! Take a look in the video store for a movie about a dog with personality, and it’s a safe bet even pooch is sporting a cool pair of shades right there on the cover.
sunglasses aren’t just a matter of fashion, but of protection. We all know about using sunscreen to protect our skin, but what about those pretty peepers? In these, the sunniest of months, with their prolonged daylight hours, it’s essential that we do our best to guard ourselves against both blinding glare and harmful UV rays.
