[dropcap2]A[/dropcap2] couple of months ago I came out of the shower. Now it’s time I come out of the locker room. (Gasp! What will he come out of next?”) You see, I played high school sports, but it turns out I’ve been a geek at heart all along. Now there’s no denying it. I’ve attended my very first con (nerd lingo for “conference”).
Albeit it wasn’t the legendary San Diego Comic-Con, but it was great fun nonetheless. While wearing a serape and sombrero I sipped cheap Cabernet from a clear plastic cup, surrounded by scads of brethren and sistren bedecked in various wild Western or Victorian English attire.
At first the connecting thread alluded me. My new friends included a lawyer, an IT professional, a musician, college students, retired homemakers, a dancer, a nurse, a librarian, etc. Some in their second decade of living, some in their fifth. What could possibly bond these people together? Until finally I seized upon it — inner geek.
The liberation among such a publicly geeky crowd was intoxicating. The red wine was intoxicating. Together it was all very, well, intoxicating. (Did I mention that the hotel offered free wine and beer from 5pm to 6:30pm?!) If as you read this some small, wistful voice inside you nasally squeaks for acceptance, it could be your starved inner geek.
It’s time to let it out. I know, I know. Jimmy Twofist banished it back in fifth grade when he made fun of you for collecting Garbage Pale Kids or playing D&D with your Star Wars dolls (I mean figurines). But Jimmy is working as superintendent form holder with a small concrete pouring collaborative in Punxsutawney. He’s not in a position to make fun of anyone (not even cousin Earl, who just got a raise to associate concrete smoother-outer-guy).
It is hard enough to exist in a world where we constantly feel pressure to conform and perform, where we have to fulfill differing expectations at work and at home (all for very decent and human reasons). But why attempt it all without a healthy inner geek? There will always be a time and place where we will not be accepted for what we do (or don’t do). A geeky con can be a place where you are uniquely accepted for who you dream of being. As a Jesus follower I’m beginning to envision heaven as one big Infinity Con full of healthy, loving geeks reliving the best moments of our earthly RPG (role playing game) with God.[divider]
Remember that time when I countered your iocane powder with my Jedi hibernation trance? Yeah. That was the best.
Seriously!? If you’ve already ingested the iocane powder, no hibernation trance will help you. Sheesh!
Oh no, I’ve done it. It works.
david it was great meeting you, i really enjoy your writing. where abouts do you live? i have a feeling we would get along well. the jon included
Hey Michael,
It was great meeting you as well, and thanks for the compliment. The conference wouldn’t have been the same without our conversations and your great performances. Of course I promptly went to itunes to download the steam powered giraffe’s stuff. It has been good inspiration for one of the prequel shorts I am still finishing up. Train heists go well to clockwork vaudeville.
I am currently in Texas, but I’ll be moving soon… not sure to where, but thus goes the life of an artists, no? We’ll probably end up either in the Rocky Mountains or the Pacific Northwest.
This might seem sort of random, but I’ve been thinking about this since the con. What would you guys think about writing a theme song for Fistful of Reefer? Just a thought.
Say hi to everybody for me.