but first, a definition

As I learned at an early age (much to my prepubescent excitement), a geek was “a carnival performer whose show consists of bizarre acts, such as biting the head off a live chicken.” Some time in the 1970′s, however, with the rise in personal computing, the etymology changed to refer to someone who had the unfortunate trifecta of poor hygiene/fashion sense, a severe lack of social skills, and an unhealthy obsession with computer programming/tabletop gaming/LARPing/etc.  Moving forward into the present-day, the term “geek” has undergone a shift, a transformation if you will. Suddenly a geek is someone who is obsessed with anyone, be it food, knitting, or even sports (see any fantasy football league if you doubt me).

Now some may take offense to this change, proclaiming loudly that “That is our word!” And to a certain extent I can sympathise. I have been reading epic fantasy novels since I was a mere hobbitling, know most of the names of the cantina occupants from Star Wars (the real one), and I prefer my anime subtitled, thank you very much. But that being said, the democratization of geekhood is a good thing for all of us. Whether we are talking about coding textures in a video game or cooking 80 briskets in order to get it just right (as America’s Test Kitchen recently did), that obsession, the thrill of submerging yourself deeply into a subject that (comparatively)very few others  are willing to go is the same.

In light of that, I hope the topics on this blog will be both wide-ranging and thought-provoking, covering not just science fiction or fantasy media (although that is much of what I read/watch/play) but also cooking, sound design, handicrafts, world history, and whatever else seems to strike my fancy.

This should be fun.

And P.S. – The Big Papa thing? That was a nickname that got thrown around when my wife was pregnant with the first of our two daughters, now 3 and 2 respectively. Being a dad and a geek simultaneously is an interesting experience (I spent many months geeking out about childbirth in particular), and will hopefully provide some interesting material as well.