Geek Girls Unite!

As many of those who know all the geek girls know, we all met on a wonderful “social show” Harper’s Globe. The net show that works in conjunction with Harper’s Island.

Well of late, many of the Geek Girls have been fighting a fight to save the site. Harper’s Globe was funded by CBS and run through EQAL, the group who brought LonelyGirl15 to the netverse. But apparently there was no intention of keeping the site going after Harper’s Island ended.

Now I know many people will wonder why that is such an issue, and I do understand that there may be some contractual crap involved. But what is bothering the Geek Girls, is the fact that 1) We where never notified that this was a temp site (LG15 was up for years until recently) 2) They apparently will be taking down all user created content and 3) While the show is over in the US, there are other viewers to come in other countries that will not get to enjoy HG.

I know for myself, I’m annoyed mostly because it seems like the companies could careless about those who gave time to this social show. That and the fact EQAL seems to be cutting all it’s ties to what got them started in the first place. I used to be heavy in LG15 when it first started, I used love what it stood for… the fact that a small company could make good with unique ideas. But of late I have a very bad taste in my mouth for what EQAL has done. LG15 was just sitting on a server that was connected to a website where other new shows where being put out…. now for no reason, and little fan fare… they remove what gave them their start.

I said it last night and I’ll say it again… It’s as if George Lucas just said “Star Wars never existed and I want nothing to do with it, and will erase all copies in existence.” LG15 is not as great as Star Wars… but the idea is the same.

There was a time, not too long ago, when a group of young people took to the streets to protest things they felt where unfair or wrong in our government. These people where called Hippies… and they protested a war they felt was unjust.

Now, in this time of chaos in Iran, there is a new Hippy movement… and it’s not just on the streets.
It’s on the internet and people worldwide are involved.

Twitter, a small blog site that once was considered an annoyance by many… has now become crucial in keeping the world informed on what is going on in Iran. The people of Iran can not, and will not be silent… and they risk their lives to ensure that someone knows.

I have been following #iranelection for days now, and can not tear myself away. The news coming out from students in the middle of this, is both heartwrenching and brave. My heart bleeds that I can’t do more for them, for all these poor children who want nothing more then to have thier voices heard…. but I do my part.

I had someone ask me if I went green because I supported the politics. No. I went green because I support free speech. I do not believe that any government has the right to silence its people, to keep the voice of the youth from speaking, to use the word democracy to cover up a dictatorship. Freedom is not Free. It is fought for, it is earned with hard struggle and constant effort.

I may not be on the streets of Iran, I may be in a country that allows me to express my opinions without fear of jail or worse. But I am, in spirit, a revolutionary… I stand by silenced voices and if I can I will scream what they can not say.

Do your part, don’t let silence claim the voice of freedom. Make it known, keep it going, show the photos, discuss the issue.

Peace can not be found in silence, only oppression.

Let the voices of Iran’s youth ring free!

To speculate on the causes of Geekdom in our society is to ponder the quintessential question… Who Am I? In relation to the world at large, the answer is most often… I am (name). But what is a name when tied to a label and a function?

What is it that makes one person named Bob different from another Bob? Or more precise, is there an inflection in the tone of Bob 1′s name that is different then Bob 2′s name? If both are asked what their names are, will they say it the same way? Or does anyone other then myself really care?

What can I say words, names in particular, fascinate me.  Growing up I had an uncommon name, or what had once been uncommon.  I had heard it pronounced three separate ways, but only one of them was my name. The others where not right. But over the years I have seen a few women with my name as well as one horrible video game character. As I met more women with my name, and that horrible movie based off the video game, I noticed that it was always pronounced different… and that each woman was as protective of their own pronunciation as I was of mine.

OK so what was going to be a blog post about Geek Latin… has turned into something totally different. This, boys and girls, is what happens when you ask my over caffeinated mind to do one thing and it decides it wants to do something else. Yes, my mind has a mind of it’s own… it’s a wonder I get anything accomplished.

So I leave you with one last random thought. Next time you see a name that can have more then one pronunciation, ask… before someone says “There’s no one here by that name.”

So I love to bake and cook . . . but since its just me at my apartment I don’t do it as often as I would like.  The stories below are from some of my kitchen adventures . . . .

First cake:  The first cake I ever made from scratch I made while I was home alone.  I had my mom’s cookbook propped open and when I came to the ingredients list for the chocolate cake I was making and saw cocoa – I naturally assumed they meant hot cocoa mix.  The only mix we had was a big container of Swiss Miss Hot Cocoa with Marshmallows so that is what I used.  The cake went into the oven and I moved on to making the frosting . . . I used granulated sugar for the frosting.  Since the frosting had a sand-like texture I waited until my parents got home to find out what I did wrong.  My mom made regular frosting (with confectioners sugar) and used green food coloring.  We frosted the cake and called it Mystery Cake . . . surprisingly it tasted fairly good.

Burn: I was making an english muffin pizza under the broiler in my parents oven.  It was done so I took it out one handed with the pot holder.  I was going to set it on the table to let it cool, but I only had the one pot holder and I didn’t want to melt the placemat . . . so I grabbed one side of the plate to push it onto the pot holder.  I had some serious blisters on my thumb and fingers.

Frozen Pizza: I was making a frozen pizza for my friend, Kristen, and I.  The pizza had been in the oven for a little while and when i went to check it I couldn’t figure out why the pizza wasn’t cooking up the way I thought it should . . . the cardboard was still on the bottom of the pizza – thankfully it never caught on fire. 

First dinner in Apartment:  The first dinner I made in my apartment was for my boyfriend, Danny, and I.  I was making hot dogs and macaroni and cheese.  I had the hot dogs under the broiler . . . I have an electric oven so there are heating coils at the top and the hot dogs were on the broiler pan on the rack just below the coils.  When the hot dogs were done I put an oven mitt on my hand and reached into get them with a fork and pull them out.  The oven mitt touched the coils and caught on fire.  I talked to my Grandma the day afterwards and she asked me why I didn’t just pull the rack out instead of sticking my hand into the oven like that . . . I had no answer – it had honestly never crossed my mind.

I have other stories and adventures that I can share – please let me know by commenting below if you’d like me to post them too.

~~Rachee~~

So, uh, hi. It’s me, Aeth, the vertically-challenged (and occasionally vertically-haired) youngest, and only British member of the Geeky Girl group, hailing from just north of Inverness.

I have no idea when I realised I was a geek; I suspect it was a slow realisation. This is something carried in my genes, though, I’m sure of it…right from my grandfather’s Blake’s Seven obsession. I taught myself to read a few words as young as 18mths, and could read the newspapers (and had a good number of books) at 3 years old. At 5, I remember watching, fascinated, as my mum programmed Arkanoid into our Sinclair ZX Spectrum (and on to actually playing the games, I remember waking her up shortly after to get me past Armorog). My book intelligence far surpassed my physical prowess however. My lack of a sense of balance is legendary, and it took me 3 years to learn to ride a bike.

I was also obsessed with the TV from being a kid – late 80s and early 90s, I still believe I had the best of the best! I have a ridiculous memory for it which still continues. I am not ashamed of my collection of obscure UK kids series DVDs. Somehow, I always manage to miss the obvious stuff – I got into Stargate in the 10th season! – in favour of series I love which get cancelled when I‘m horribly involved in the story. Some examples are Jake 2.0, Invasion, and Farscape for which I will never forgive. Never mention PK Wars in my earshot. I actually was briefly nicknamed Aeryn in school, in connection with the long black coat, large black boots and long black braid I wore at the time. I believe the black coat was acquired after The Matrix. It was the first 15-rated film I saw in the cinema. I deny the existence of any spin-offs other than The Animatrix.

Between all the black, and my denial of being a goth, a kid in my sister’s class in school did a project in which he covertly tested whether or not I was a vampire. Results were inconclusive, but the fact that I didn’t drink his blood when he casually placed his hand on mine in the library to ‘check my temperature’ probably places me in favour of the human element.

But yeah, this is my history. My present, well… I share a flat with my immensely cute hamster, Bourbon. My TV unit proudly displays my PS2, Mega Drive and Gamecube in beautiful harmony – current gen be damned. I play keyboard and acoustic guitar, and used to play violin but the thing’s wrecked now. Thanks to the power of the internet, I have a boyfriend in Texas. Work-wise, I have an unfulfilling office job in which I am underappreciated, underpaid and seem to be the informal IT support for half the building. Happy days. Unfortunately, the only solid ambition I have is to eventually perform Weird Al’s The Saga Begins in public, which isn’t much help. Oh, and I drive a Citroen C3 Pluriel, which according to my sister invalidates my entitlement to any opinion on matters of a vehicular nature. Look it up. Even the salesman tried to talk me out of it; but I love it to bits, so whatever. ^_~

So there you go. Bit about me.

In my opinion we are all geeks in our own way. So, how am I a geek?  Well, I started to write a blog initally and realized that I was rambling . . . as I often do . . . so I mentioned it to my boyfriend and he said the following: Moo moos, Supernatural, Twilight, and singing to my iPod in the car. So I thought i could talk a little about each of those to start

Moo moos  . . . now I’m not talking the kind that you wear *shudders* I’d like to think that I dress myself a little bit better than that (on occasion anyways).  My Moo moos are called Mary’s Moo moos, they are little ceramic cows.  I’ve got about 50 or more of them all over my apartment and some that are specific to holidays.  I have a cow theme in my kitchen and the more moo moos that I have collected they have spilled over into my living room and some on my desk at work.  They are absolutely adorable (remind me to post a pic at somepoint) and I have to avoid ebay so that I don’t continue to buy more of them.

Now Supernatural . . . I pity the person who decided to interupt me on Thursday night when there is a new episode on.  My boyfriend knows by now that I am not to be interupted and I will call him once the previews from the next new episode have aired.  I collect issues of Supernatural magazine, and I have trading cards from the first three seasons, as well as the book series and each season on DVD.  I absolutely love Jensen Ackles (*sigh*).

Twilight – where do I begin? I picked up the first two books on a whim one Saturday morning just after my dog, Simba, passed away.  That was the first time in ages that I ever actually stayed at my apartment for a full day without going to my parents house . . . but I digress.  I read the first two books that weekend and fell in love with the series.  And yes if Edward were real and I met him . . . I’d blindly follow him anywhere (lol).  I bought the third and fourth books as soon as I could get my hands on them and read them just as quickly.  I reread the series before the movie came out in theaters and again before it came out on DVD.  I love being able to read something and getting caught up in another world – leaving this one for a while and going somewhere else – I think Stephanie Meyer does that well . . . even if her Vampires sparkle instead of bursting into flames (Tenshi – lol).

Lastly, I cannot sing to save my life!  I still lay in bed sometimes and pretend to sing on a stage.  I get the most enjoyment, however, from singing in my car with my iPod (my car stereo is terrible) with the volume turned up enough so I can’t hear myself.

And for now that’s all I have to say – I have many stories of my klutziness that I can tell next time

~~Rachee~~

Once, in a day thankfully passed, to be known as a Geek or a Nerd was the greatest of insults.

In those days, before the Internet, I was still proud of my Geekyness. Yes I was that odd girl in the corner who knew all the answers, but never spoke to most people.  The books in my arms, everything from Poe to Chaos Math. I did not participate in sports, I was not a member of band, and all I did in Drama class was run the lights because no one else would. I wore glasses, and clothing that wasn’t in fashion (until goth and grunge became fashionable). But I was fine that I did not fit in… who would want to be a sheep in a world of sheep?

But now, Geek is a fashion all it’s own. To be a Geek is an honor, no longer an insult. Geeks have taken over TV, Movies, Music, and of course our haven… the Internet. I fit in. It is an odd feeling to be counted as a group that is socially acceptable and no longer viewed with disdain. Girls in baby-doll shirts proclaim loudly “I heart my Geek”, Leet speak is understood by more teenagers then common English, and video games have become “social activities”.

I don’t know what I think of this change in Geek society… while I find the acceptance… amusing if not a welcome change, the fact is… it’s not the same.

Not to turn into the old woman on the rocker yelling to kids about “back in my day”, but things where different before. The feeling of kinship that you shared with Geeks was something that not only brought people together, but created friendships. Days that wearing a Batman shirt would get you a random nod from someone as you passed, instead of just over looked as yet another person in the latest movie shirt.

These days, to truly stand out as a Geek, one must go above and beyond! No more Batman for me, I instead wear The Black Flash! No more digital watches, now you must wear a binary watch… and be able to read it! No more speaking Klingon…. um OK no that ones safe still. But you get the picture.

My name is Tenshi.

I am an Elder Geek.

I played LoRD on BBS.

I read Lord of The Rings before the movie came out.

I still know what thac0 is.

I saw Star Wars in the theater… the first time.

I programed games in Turtle Graphics!

I am Tenshi Akui… I Geek Therefor I Am.