Keeping an eye on the times and trends of this modern day and reacting to a recent viewing of a certain documentary I've decided that I should probably state my geek here and now before I'm lumped in with some bandwagon or seen as some irresponsible outcast.
From a very early age I've been introduced to and become smitten with several pieces of entertainment that most would file under the sub-culture of geek. I did not consciously enjoy these items because of that label, I do not now consciously boast about my favorites in hopes of being considered a geek, and it wasn't until after primary school that I was able to make such connections between television shows, movies, games, comics, toys, and more with the geek sub-culture. By that time I was already an avid fan, thanks to my father and uncles, of Star Wars, Doctor Who, Star Trek, Mystery Science Theater 3000, comics, and the list goes on. I had also found for myself several other interests such as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Ghostbusters, and other fantastic movies, cartoons, and literature of the late '80s early '90s.
As I grew up I found myself gravitating to new media that shared common themes with all others I had grown up loving. I was fortunate enough in my middle school years to stumble upon a certain game and comic book shop called White Cap Comics where I fed my existing comic addiction and finally discovered what those ads in all those comics and magazines were talking about when they declared the wonders that were to be found in Dungeons and Dragons. It was also in that time, about early seventh grade, that I caught on to some friends at school playing a certain card game at lunchtime. The game was Magic the Gathering, the friends were the first gamers I had ever encountered, and my love for the game still strongly exists. After my introduction to gaming I chose a book for a reading assignment that would not only educate me on the founding of the Fantasy genre but would change my life and outlook from then on out. That book with it's hole-in-the-ground-dwelling Hobbit was The Hobbit. So there I was after just a few years of life already saturated in the products and media of a sub-culture(s) I knew nothing about, and I was reveling in all the joys a young boy could find in his hobbies and interests.
Now as an adult after years of late night viewings of movies and television series, rolling dice, shuffling cards, drawing my favorite characters, writing my own epics, and keeping up on all my old past times, I find myself needing to not only reflect but think about the future. I see much of what I've loved becoming part of society's "Cool School," where historically media has gone to be played out and disembowled by the low-brow members of a coked-up, party society. Such an acceptance doesn't deter me from enjoying what I've always enjoyed but it does strike up natural insecurities dealing with social perceptions. I know that I don't care about being called a geek but I do definitely care about being lumped in with the zealots of popular culture. For now I'll enjoy what I enjoy in the privacy of my keep, but I fear for the future of much of what I love.
Another concern is that I may have become too wrapped up in my pursuits and am separating from society in an unhealthy way, alienating everyone else around me. I don't want to lose any part of myself or what I enjoy, but I also don't want to be the lone figure apart from the world watching it like a lonely outcast, an alien on the impenetrable fringes of a desirable world. I don't want to be like those who give up sense and comfort to dedicate themselves twenty four hours a day, seven days a week to entertainments that will in the end offer them nothing but lost time and real world misery as they neglect to take care of themselves and those who depend upon them. I want to keep my social life, my humanity, and at the same time be able to lose my self for a time in the realms of dream, imagination, and the joys of geekery.
So I will continue to constantly reflect and prepare for tomorrow. I will keep a clear head about priorities, about self-truth, about life, and about what's most important in the macro sense. Yesterday was introductions and initial glee, today is joy in long-loved pursuits, and tomorrow is continued appreciation for my life-long pleasures as I maintain a functioning, positive, and happy lifestyle.
Here's to yesterdays, today, and all the possible tomorrows. Geek out.
