I think this makes me a geek hipster.
I was a geek before it was cool to be a geek. And now all the other geeks bug the hell out of me.
Whew. I said it. Because now it is popular to be geeky (at least in Portland, but I assume it’s widespread) and it causes me massive cognitive dissonance. It’s like finding out the captain of the cheerleading squad listens to the Smiths or Black Flag. (That is, in the 80s when I went to high school. I wouldn’t be surprised if they all listen to the Smiths now.)
And it’s driving me nuts. I mean, these people can’t *all* be bona fide, can they? Given that most of them are younger than I am, it’s kinda sorta hard for me to not think of them all as poseurs.
And darn it, I’m not a geek poseur. I walked the walk! Sure, we’d go to conventions and the hotel staff would say, “Oh, please excuse the — um — people around here,” as gamers happily LARPed in the hotel lobby (they didn’t know I was there for a panel, because I was an LL Bean-wearing geek). But I was a geek before it was cool! Some evidence:
- I have a huge Batman collection: comics, memorabilia, posters, original art. This was back when all the Batman movies sucked, when no one except a select few knew who Frank Miller was. I had to be secretive about my Batman: The Animated Series fandom.
- I worked in a comic book store back in the days when only stinky fat guys worked in comic book stores (myself obviously excluded).
- I played roleplaying games back when I had to explain what they were, because people thought it was some weird dress-up satanist sex game. Heck, I wrote a book for a RPG.
- I still recite lines from MST3K. When Joel was hosting. Also: I know the Manos Hands of Fate music and will hum it sometimes.
- I still recite lines from embarrassingly bad movies. Like Hudson Hawk – which is actually a pretty funny film, if you recognize it as an RPG game gone bad.
- I remember when George R. R. Martin was only known for the Wild Cards books. And I will tell you that after the 1984 election plot resolved, they pretty much sucked.
…and I could go on and on. My husband is probably reading this and laughing, because his geek cred is much deeper (and older and nerdier) than mine. I feel like Pea, mad because I have to share the streetcar with other people. Sure, OK, I can share being a geek with other people.
But.
I remember when.
11 Responses to “I think this makes me a geek hipster.”
Hilarious. And I love that you own your true geekdom, not just the trendy geeky things. Go you!
Hi, my name is Proto Attorney, and I, too, am a Geek.
I have a significantly large collection of X-Files memorabilia, and have an encyclopedic knowledge of X-Files trivia. Don’t even get me started on Star Trek trivia. If I had one wish, it would be to have a TARDIS. I will not disclose my involvement in fanfic.
However, my husband plays D&D with his boyfriends every Thursday night, so I think he wins the geek contest. And he goes to GenCon. He claims I’m a bigger geek, but he’s the one who has a whole Netflix queue full of the old Doctor Who episodes, that he’s already seen, but he wants to go back and watch the commentaries. Epic.
Oh, this reminds me of the days when we had Friday night (remember when it was on Friday?) X-Files parties where we served cheap wine in an Erlenmeyer flask. Oh, the days!
Yes I remember the old X-Files parties… You know, the ones I’m pretty certain I was only invited to because I was actively being thrown at your… ahem… single friend. Oh, and I loved that flask!
No, we invited you because we liked you.
HUDSON HAWK RULES.
*geek here. wish i had some mom friends who wanted to play d&d.*
“Bunny ball-ball” and “Total World Domination!” are big lines around this house.
Oh, and Hudson Hawk is an awesome movie. The kids do lines from that movie (it started when Monk randomly said, “Gee, Mom, I feel like a dolphin.” It morphed from there. Oh, but the first time they ran lines from that movie, the look on M’s face was PRICELESS).
I really need to teach Pea to shout “Total World Domination!” in public. It would be complete parental narcissism — look at my child reflecting on how cool I am — but DAMN I would love it.
I would laugh. If we ever visit Portland (and it’s in the plan), I totally expect her to say it. Granted, Chewey might take exception (unless they could channel their power for the forces of evil). Right now, his world domination lines run along as something like this: “Don’t make me laugh! Hahaha! I will destroy you!”
But he does do an excellent force choke. And he can totally impress (and terrify) others with his knowledge of swords.
[...] in the sun all afternoon, but a dark theater? I’m down with that). In honor of that, and my geekdom, I bring you the Star Trek edition of Mothers in the Legal [...]