Monday, June 25, 2007

On becoming a Geek

It turns out that "Geek" is not just a word, but a virus. Something highly contagious but at the same time insidiously unassuming. It is the type of disease that lies dormant for years- all the years that you could actually do something about getting rid of it- until the moment when it has truly caught hold of you, and then it flares it's ugly head.

About a year ago, upon not being able to agree on a dvd to watch, I said one fateful line to Phil:

"Oh, ok, I suppose we can watch an episode of your Star Trek boxed set...."

[As an aside, even as I write now, I can't believe I am confessing this.]

What then followed over next year is something I can only describe as the slippery slope of addiction. Anyone who knows me would contest to the fact that I am just not Sci-Fi Fan material, and yet somehow I succumbed. Like any addiction, I kept thinking I could stop at any time, and yet at the same time I would be waiting anxiously for Phil to come home so we could put in the next disk. Aside from the fact that he would be highly unhappy at me watching episodes without him, and therefore forcing him to play catch-up before we could continue together, I was also working on the fact that- like with alcohol or cigarettes- if you only consume with someone else then it is still socially acceptable. One could say it was like being a social smoker.

It occurred to me about 3 months ago that I was addicted. It was about the same time that someone cut me off while I was riding my scooter to work, and I swore at him... in Klingon. It was the only word I know in Klingon, but it was Klingon none-the-less.

I managed to confess the addiction to a few friends, but only after swearing them to silence. My reputation was at stake afterall. Like many addicts, I even moved on a few times to become a dealer- lending out dvds to others. I can only imagine that I will feel the guilt of their ensuing addiction for as long as I live.

However the moment in which I truly realised the insidious nature of this "disease" came only a few days ago. I had accepted that I was an addict- a 'fan' if you will- however I still did not consider myself a geek. Yet on that fateful night Phil and I were watching an episode of 'Deep Space Nine', when two of the show's characters were sitting in a small space ship (a runabout) when they noticed something strange happening:

Character 1: "A ship is decloaking directly above us"

[The camera pans out to show a huge spaceship emerging from it's invisibility cloak above the small ship]


At that moment I gasped in horror and uttered "It's a Romulan Warbird!"

[The camera pans back in to show the original characters in their small ship]

Character 1: "It's a Romulan Warbird!"

Yes, I managed not only to follow the story line, but recognise a random spaceship and then announce it word-for-word before the character on the show did.

It's official- I'm a geek.

I hope they find a cure for this disease soon, but I think sadly it will be for the generations to come. I myself am a lost cause.

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PS. The blogger auto spell check dictionary does not recognise British English spelling, and yet it recognises the word "Klingon"! The disease is spreading...

A Romulan Warbird

6 comments:

Gabby Girl said...

Hey, no worries. Both Phil and I are geeks too. We've been watching all 7 seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation. When a friend of ours came over and watched one with us he asked us a question about who exactly someone was. I didn't even have to think about it. I gave them the complete rundown of who they were, where they had come from, and why it was that they hated someone else. It was then that I knew I had been watching way too much Star Trek.

Bad news is that I killed Phil's hard drive by a complete accident, and now we have to buy a new one and download season 7 so we can finish.

Louise said...

Hi Gabrielle!

Yeah, we started on Next Generation, and watched the whole lot on a boxed set Phil bought here in Shanghai (pirated of course!), and then moved on to deep space nine. Good luck with the hard drive- if you can't get it sorted out soon perhaps we can make copies of ours and send them to you? Or I should say- Perhaps (my) Phil can....

Anyway, I'm so glad another sane person is afflicted with this horrible disease!

Girl Clumsy said...

If you like space Sci-Fi...

...watch Battlestar Galactica. Not the campy 70s original, but the updated version. It's awesome.

I haven't gotten into Star Trek. But geek, oh yes, that's me. Doctor Who forever!!!

Cheers, Natalie. ;)

Anonymous said...

Oh thank god I am not alone!!

I'll definitely try to get my hands on Battlestar Galactica Natalie- thanks for the tip!

Calla said...

I'll admit to watching the entire Voyager series from go to whoa, and being partway through DS9. I'll even say that I've done BSG, but swearing in Klingon? Girl, you are getting dangerously far away from geek and bordering on nerd territory there!

Bring back the sci fi era! I'm boooored with fantasy and comic book movies already.

Mia said...

I love Star Trek ! My friend just lent me his boxed DVD collection of BSG one of these days i'm gonna have to make time to watch it.