Okay, it’s 2012, so I guess it isn’t that brave to identify myself as a geek (on the other hand, it still takes guts to admit to strangers that I’m a lawyer). In fact, because it’s now cool to be a geek (at least to other geeks), I feel required to establish my geek credentials:
It all started in 1977, when I saw Star Wars: A New Hope in the theater, sitting on my dad’s lap. Transfixed by Darth Vader, I fell in love with Star Wars (the original three movies, anyway) and soon became a fan of Star Trek (both the movies and the first two television series) as well. I don’t know if I’m technically supposed to like both – according to Fanboys I’m breaking the rules but can’t help myself! Despite my love affair with both Star Wars and Star Trek, I wouldn’t call myself a TV or movie sci fi geek. I’ve never seen Dr. Who, Blade Runner, Battlestar Galactica, or even Avatar. Superhero movies, on the other hand, I adore. I would love a quality Wonder Woman film, but once they rejected The Great Joss Whedon’s script I gave up hope of it happening in my lifetime.
And yes, I have a huge geekgirl crush on The Great Joss Whedon (I think “The Great” is an official part of his name). Buffy is one of all the time great TV series – I own the entire series on DVD, buy the comic books, and devoured the Watchers Guides. Angel was also awesome (what lawyer doesn’t love Wolfram & Hart)? I haven’t seen Firefly yet, however, which is a completely wrong for somebody who calls herself both a geek and a Whedon devotee, so I’ve got it on my Netflix list and plan to watch the entire series very soon!
Meanwhile, I could talk sci fi books all day. The first sci fi book I ever read was my dad’s copy of A Princess of Mars, the classic Edgar Rice Burroughs book that was a $200 million disaster for Disney earlier this year. I fell in love with Barsoom, John Carter, Tars Tarkas, and Dejah Thoris then and never looked back. After reading all of the Barsoom series my dad introduced me to Isaac Asimov, with his robot detectives and three rules of robotics and psychohistory. After that, I read the Dune series for the first time. To me, that is the ultimate science fiction series, so good and so deep that I’ve read the original six books at least five times and I’ve even read all of the new books put out by Frank Herbert’s son. Since then I’ve consumed several of Robert Heinlein’s adult fiction, some Octavia Butler works, and most of Terry Pratchett’s hysterical while still depressingly insightful Discworld books. I also love the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I’ve downloaded a Neil Gaiman book to my Kindle but haven’t read it yet. I know I’m missing others but that’s all I can think of right now.
So that’s it – my geek girl credentials. It’s a work in progress, and I hope to continue to develop my geekiness through this blog and in my spare time. And if I can ever work a Buffy or Star Wars reference into a legal brief I will be able to say that I have reached the pinnacle of legal geekiness (okay, a panel at Comic-Con would be the true pinnacle, but I’m trying to set realistic goals).
My understanding of the traditional meaning of the word “geek” caused me concern that you were going to bite the head off a chicken in a courtroom. But, according to Wikipedia, the word appears in the modern sense of a science, math, or technology enthusiast in Robert Heinlein’s (one of the names you drop) 1952 short story “The Year of the Jackpot”. So, I assume that’s the sort of thing I’ll find when I visit this blog.
Yes, we’re using the term in the modern sense. I didn’t realize it was Heinlein who had popularized our current usage of the term. All the more reason to love him!