I Need This Feeling (Our Passions)

So yeeeeah . . . I think this arrangement of initial .gif's is my weirdest to date.

First off, I apologize for not writing that Halloween-themed post last week like I promised, as well as completely abandoning the idea of writing a post altogether. This class called for a presentation and a case study due for me on the same day, and I was a bit stressed about getting my case study video in on time.

But I'm back now!

Sorry, I might be a little bit .gif happy tonight XD Oh well!

Anyway, I was looking through my old posts and I decided that I haven't really done anything too too personal at this point, so I suppose it couldn't hurt to start now!

As I've mentioned before, it is very difficult to define exactly what a geek is, because it is such an all-encompassing term. Sure, texts such as 'The Geek Handbook' can try and divide people into specific categories, but I can guess all of you are smart enough to know that one book isn't going to cover everything on a single topic.

Even so, I would like to think that there is something that the lot of us have in common, more often than not, and that is that we all have things that we are passionate about.

You aren't labeled as a geek because of the specific things that you are passionate about. You don't even have to be a geek in order to get passionate about something. But I find that more often than not that the people that would call themselves geeks, nerds, dorks, what have you, are people that aren't afraid to share their passions with the world.

Here's an example: I can't count the number of times I've had screaming girls wander into the bookstore where I work. Whether it's to take in our One Direction merchandise . . .

*shudder*

Or when it's girls excitedly explaining to their friends the plot of one of John Green's books.

In fact, I've heard on countless occasions that people refer to that moment when they're "jump-up-and-down-squealing-like-a-little-girl-oh-my-God-I-can't-believe-it-I-don't-even" excited as "geeking out." Of course you could also call that generally just "freaking out" or "fangirling."

After all, who hasn't had a moment where they're involved in some sort of excited discussion or debate with their friends or just with the people around them, not over a class discussion or whatever the current headline is that they find repulsive, but over something that they really enjoy talking to other people about?

I know I'm guilty of this. I'm pretty sure I razzed on a fellow classmate just a couple days ago when I heard that he hadn't seen any episodes of Game of Thrones or read any of the books that the HBO series is based on, and I more or less demanded that he watch it as soon as possible.

I also more or less squealed with a friend of mine when we talked about last week's episode of The Big Bang Theory, and how excited we were to see a substantial figure from our childhood appear on screen, bow tie and all.

I've also noticed that for the past few months that I have declared a personal war against anybody that will not watch the show White Collar after I have expressed the show's many virtues to them: it's well written, it's unlike any of the other crime dramas currently on the air such as NCIS and CSI, it's incredibly funny, and also because I happen to find Matt Bomer to be one of the most gorgeous men alive . . . 

(WHY must he play for the other team?!)

Okay, so maybe that last reason applies only to myself, but still . . . 

My point is, we all have something, and it's not just TV shows that apply here. People are passionate about cooking, about writing, about sports, even about characters that they grow attached to in books they read or in their own writing.

I guess the morale of the story here is: To all the people who are screaming at their television sets when the characters on TV are making bad decisions,

To the people who let out a little squeal when they see a new book by their favorite author out on the shelves,

To those that have fun talking, Facebooking and Tweeting to people about the interests they have in common (or the interests they should have in common because maybe you think everyone should hop on the Duck Dynasty wagon),

To everyone that has one or a multitude of things that they are passionate about that help to motivate them each day,

I salute you.

Okay, now it's officially .gif overkill XD

Guess this would be a good time for me to go. I guess I can end with a simple enough question:

What are you passionate about?

Let me know!

~ 4EvaGeek

If You've Got It, Flaunt It! (Intro to Geek Pride)

So for those of you that would categorize yourself as a geek, let me ask you...

Do you show it?

I mean, on a regular basis. Where you walk the walk, talk the talk, and make sure that nobody gets through a conversation with you without realizing that you're at least a little bit weird.

Maybe that doesn't sound the most appealing to you. Maybe you're the type of person that doesn't mind sitting in the corner, never getting noticed, keeping all of your unique hobbies and interests to yourself.

And really there's nothing wrong with that. If you are completely content with the set-up you've got going on right now, then who am I to tell you that you need a change?

But maybe you feel like you're alone in the world and that there isn't anybody else like you out there. Or maybe at times you feel the slightest bit ashamed of who you are and the things you like.

Pardon my French, but fuck that noise!

Personally, I like being weird. I know that I can be different than a lot of people that I come into contact with. Sometimes it's my personality, sometimes it's my interests, but more often than not I enjoy flaunting those things.

I believe there are a great number of geeks that like to keep to themselves when really they shouldn't hide. There are several ways in which people can exhibit their pride in being a geek on a regular basis that don't require holding a big cardboard sign over their head.

Here's a very simple way in which people can express their interests without having to say a word about them: Geeky Accessories.

These are just a few examples of the pins that I like to show off on a regular basis. The top picture is from the lapel of my fall jacket, and the bottom picture is from my backpack. The pins range from video games to anime to just general geekiness and silliness.

I could probably do an entire post dedicated to geeky accessories and clothing (and I probably will do just that at some point), but this is just a small example of how you can show off your geek pride; little things like pins or jewelry or a shirt that says "Keep Calm And Get Your Geek On!" will do the trick, and you don't have to interact with a single soul!

Another way to show off your geek pride would be to talk about the things you're interested in.

For some, this is easier said than done. For others, it's not even fathomable.

As an example, I work in retail; I try and chat with customers as often as I can, and it comes a lot more easily when I can tell that we have some sort of common interest. And sometimes it works out, and sometimes it doesn't.

For instance, pretty much any time a teenage girl brings up a copy of The Fault In Our Stars by John Green up to the counter, I can easily talk about how much I liked the book, and ask if they're excited for the movie that's currently in production, and they immediately start beaming and are completely eager to start gushing about the rest of the books.

And just the other day, I saw a woman purchasing a copy of Otaku USA. I asked her if she was a fan of any of the Studio Ghibli films (Spirited Away, Castle In The Sky, Howl's Moving Castle, etc.), and tried to talk about how sad I was over the fact that the director Hayao Miazaki would be retiring after his next movie. I got more or less shut down for conversation by her, and I felt kind of crappy after she gave me an odd look and left.

So that wasn't so great... nevertheless, it didn't discourage me from wanting to be open with people about the things I'm passionate about. I guess the moral I'm trying to get across here is that you shouldn't let anything discourage you, and even if you have to be the one to manufacture the conversation, talking is a great step in exhibiting your geek pride, whether it's a stranger you bump into that's wearing a bunch of adorable anime pins, or to your closest friends.

I've got one more for you guys, and it's going to sound kind of preachy, but there is some validity to this statement: Just be yourself.

Cliche and tacky, I get it. But think about it: there's no real geek pride to be found in hiding things about yourself.

If you have the urge to squeal at the new release of Pokemon X and Pokemon Y, even if you're standing in front of EB Games, letting out a tiny squeal is not going to hurt anybody (emphasis on the word tiny). 

And it doesn't even have to be related to your interests, it can just be you exhibiting a bit of that weirdness you've got bottled up somewhere inside.

Maybe you're standing in place talking with friends and you get the sudden urge to twirl in place while still listening to your friend talking about his latest homework assignment. Sure, maybe at first your friends will be taken aback, but soon enough it might just become your signature mood. Again, nothing wrong with that.

All in all, being different is good, whether it's your interests or your personality or a fun combination of both, and nobody should ever tell you differently.

I think that's it for now! And I'll leave behind a single question:

How do you exhibit your geek pride?

Let me know what you think!

~4EvaGeek