Speak Out With Your Geek Out week has come and gone. Created by Monica Valentinelli, it was an Internet-wide phenomenon, prompting hundreds of people from all over the world to submit their tales of wonderful geekdom. I missed contributing my own geek-out post, which is a shame because there are a lot of things I geek about. From horror movies of all kinds (zombie movies and 80s cult being among my favorites), to Buffy and Angel, comic books, genre fiction, Anime, and gory foreign films. The list goes on.

So I wanted to take a look back at the Geek Week because I think SOWYGO sparked a discussion that was needed. Geeks are sometimes made fun of in media, and often in classrooms and the workplace. It doesn’t just stop there. Being different means, to some in this world, being stomped down at any time. So it’s important for people to come together and tell the world that enough is enough. The fact of the matter is that being different – being a geek, a dork, a nerd or what have you – is cool. It always has been, always will be. Take a clue from The Breakfast Club.

Here are a couple of the SOWYGO posts that I really enjoyed:

• “Speak Out With Your Geek Out – Hands Off My Dice!” at Elf Steaks and Halfling Bacon: I’ve long been on the outskirts of the RPG field, fascinated by the stories but still being more of a video game player myself, and I find there’s much to admire about the dedication and imagination of those hardcore into pen-and-paper RPG and LARPing. In Hands Off My Dice, the reader gets a lesson in manners and productive obsession. I know now for any possible future encounters that just because I see shiny dice sitting on a table at an RPG session, I can not yell out, “Oooo, shiny!” and start tossing them in the air to my heart’s content. (And, no, I’ve never done that.)

• “Like a Robot Farting” at John Toon – A Cry For Help: In this post, the author gives a detailed timeline of the history of music used in Dr. Who, complete with his first introduction to music outside of the realm of Elton John. I’ve been trying, enthusiastically, to get more into Dr. Who for years now. But outside of liking a few episodes (the Agatha Christie and one with zombies, namely), I’ve found that I just haven’t been able to get past the filming style of the show and the storylines don’t interest me as much as other science fiction programs like Eureka or BSG. But being determined to see if that can change, I’ve already agreed to be a part of an upcoming Dr. Who club, where each week participants will watch episodes (starting with the very first ones that are still available) and discuss. Now, after reading this post, I’ll pay more attention to the music as well. Plus, from the way it’s described, the music sounds like just the kind I’ll like, whether I enjoy the series or not.

There were numerous blog posts to choose from, and the above is only a brief sampling. Overall, I think SOWYGO would make for a great annual event, or even seasonal. Because geeking-out isn’t just a once-in-a-year kind of thing.

By Nancy O. Greene

Tags | speakgeek