Five Reasons I Love Being A Geek...

Your eyes are not deceiving you. The above picture is of a TARDIS. Not the real TARDIS, though, in my dreams...It is a cupboard made for me by my own father - this was my Christmas present from him to me. Handmade. Just for me. I'm still pinching myself because it doesn't seem real.

This is one of the numerous reasons why I love being a geek. (Not the live chicken eating geek.) And it's also one of the reasons I love my dad. And my mum, of course. They both sneaked it into my house the other night and would have gotten away with it if it hadn't be for those snooping kids...oh wait...Facebook...they would have gotten away with it if it wasn't for Facebook. Mum could not resist posting a picture on Facebook.

Let's launch into my top five reasons why I love being a geek. (In other words, why I love being me.)

5. In the words of John Green:

"…because nerds like us are allowed to be unironically enthusiastic about stuff… Nerds are allowed to love stuff, like jump-up-and-down-in-the-chair-can’t-control-yourself love it. " 

In this case nerd and geek are interchangeable. They just are. I love being enthusiastic about stuff. And my enthusiasm spills over. It shows in my work, especially when I am teaching about anything I am slightly enthusiastic about. When I was able to teach Looking For Alaska by John Green I was excited. When I watched The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug for the second time I was enthusiastic to the point of jumping out of my seat. (Great film by the way, if you haven't seen it...) In short, being enthusiastic about 'stuff' is fun.

4.

Fandoms. This is definitely a two edged sword because some fandoms can be terrifying. Just open tumblr and type in SuperWhoLock - fantastic but bloody scary at the same time. Fandoms are a way to forge instant friendships and create life long enemies. Hence the two edged sword. There is something magical about finding out that there are others out there who love diving into the world that someone else has created and just make it richer. Just tread with caution.

3. My general knowledge from being a geek has just grown exponentially. I'm not exaggerating because you have to have a broad general knowledge to keep up with allusions within nearly every graphic novel, novel or TV series. You have to research ideas to further your own understanding of the things that you love. Hell, just read Y the Last Man and see how many things you can learn about English Literature, various cultures and just basic morals etc. Basically, through embracing the geekiness in my soul I've improved my knowledge on numerous concepts and pop culture, of course.

2. Conventions - where else can you find yourself surrounded by like minded folk who are enthusiastic about stuff. I know that there are quite a few people out there who have started to complain about SDCC (San Diego Comic Con) becoming too 'mainstream' but the first time I went I thoroughly enjoyed it. I flew from New Zealand to California to attend two days of SDCC. Just two. I woke at a ridiculous time in the morning in order to get on line to get tickets. I would love to attend again this year and make it a hat trick but I'm not sure if the timing will work. (Fingers crossed)
I just love being able to look at all the stuff I love under one roof and find stuff I didn't know I loved. Hell, even the pretzel dogs were exciting.

1. I want to cheat and say everything - I love everything about being a geek but my final reason is that there are so many different mediums out there that make being a geek fun. Film, television, novels, tumblr, YouTube, graphic novels, collectables. The list goes on. There is something out there for everyone. This translates into the fact that everyone has their own little nerdy/geeky loves and we should all embrace them. (Okay, so maybe I did cheat a little on this last one. Mediums can quickly be replaced by everything...but a girl has to have some vices, right?)

So there you have it. My five reasons I love being a geek...My question for you, though, is what was the first geeky thing you remember doing? Mine was recovering after my sixth or seventh surgery and watching The Empire Strikes Back on VHS. Dad had recorded it from the telly and had cut out all the ads for me.

Peace and pancakes everyone.
x Jaime

Five Things That Have Made my Day...

Seriously busy today so this is going to be super rushed.*So, here goes the five things that have made my day today...

One - Downloading some Harry Potter music or Wizard Rock. (Wrock) And some Hunger Games tunes. I knew about ALL CAPS, The Moaning Myrtles etc but only just found Alex Carpenter, Ministry of Magic and Muggle Relations. So I have been bopping around to some sweet new tunes and indulging in geekery.

Two - Seeing people at the craft market who have known me since I was a baby. They always go out of their way to say hi and ask how my life is going. They're like substitute aunts and uncles.

Three - Wearing my favourite pair of shoes that remind me of my family over in the States. They're my first ever pair of Converse. (I normally never buy labels cause I dont' see the point or don't have the money but these were the best buy, ever. They're my dancing shoes.)

Four - Knowing that I have Star Trek (JJ Abrams movie) waiting for me in the DVD player. I was watching it yesterday but got super busy with the fish and chips and then the writing.

Five - Jeph Jacques' amazing webcomic series Questionable Content It is pure brilliance. It's a great way to procrastinate and the evolution of the drawing is so neat to see. Plus, Faye, Hannalore, Marten and co seem like they'd be really fun in real life, if somewhat crazy.

So, leave me a comment and let me know what has made your day today cause I'd like to know. It may have been trivial but sometimes these little things make or break your day.

*Had the Ohope Craft market this morning so I was there flipping burgers and selling drinks. (Oh the life I lead.) And now I'm back at the shop sitting behind the till pretending to be hard at work.

EDIT: One thing that didn't make my day...moronic customers...sigh. Example:
Phone rings
Me: Good Afternoon, Oasis Takeaways
Phone Person: Is this Oasis Takeaways
Me: Yes. Can I help?
PP: Are you open?
Me: Uh...yeah 
PP: So you're cooking?
Me: Yes, until 7 when we close. 
PP: When do you close?
Me: Seven. 
By this point I want to yell down the phone but I just smile and nod. Now, this happened to me eight times yesterday with only slight variations on the conversation.

Top Five Cartoons from my Childhood...

Because I am feeling dreadfully lazy today as I watch Mortal Kombat and drink tea (I'm aware that this is an odd combination but that's how I roll...) I'm going to do a simple top five. These are all cartoons that I watched when I was a child. The majority of these are in the late eighties and early nineties. Maybe they'll bring back some memories for you.

Ewoks - The Animated Series
First, I loved this series as a kid. I wasn't as highly aware of the intense dislike that seemed to be given to this fluffy, over grown teddy bears so I found this show highly enjoyable. I would spend days pretending I was Princess Kneesaa running off on an adventure with Wicket and co. Heck, I can still remember the theme song and have been known to hum it on random occasions. 

Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors
For a long time I would ask people if they remembered this show but no one seemed to have any idea what I was talking about so I almost thought I'd imagined the whole thing though I knew my imagination wasn't that good. To my little kid brain Flora was so lucky and cool and powerful. For a stage I was convinced that if I tried hard enough I would have power over plants. Sadly, this never panned out.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Seriously, if you grew up in the late eighties and early nineties you have to know this series. My favourite was always Donatello. I have a thing about intelligent characters, what can I say. (This is not to say that I had a crush on an anthropomorphic turtle - just in case you were wondering or worrying...) And April O'Neil was my idol. Don't get me started on the plays that we used to perform as kids. I have a terrible memory of my parading around in high heels that were far too big for me calling for help from the turtles. Ah, childhood.

Captain N: The Game Master
This is another one that I remember watching as a young child and then seeing repeats again when I was a bit older. There was something about crossing into a different world that always appealed to me. Hence why I love Labyrinth so much and The NeverEnding Story. Heck, I haven't seen this in so long that I feel like I may have to do some shopping online.

Gargoyles
This show was so many levels of awesome. Admittedly, this was on more when I was just about to start high school so I don't know if it counts but I have to have it here. The mythology of the show alone was brilliant and then there was the whole Shakespeare element. It was a mixture of so many cultures, beliefs and ideas. This is a series that I really want to get on DVD.

Yeah, I thought this was going to be easy but there are so many shows that I want to fit into this list but I have to choose five. Here are some of the runner ups: ThunderCats, The Bots Master, Denver The Last Dinosaur, The Snorks, Teddy Ruxpin, Gummi Bears, The Racoons, Duck Tales and the list goes on.

I hope this brought back some great memories for some of you because it sure did to me.

Let me know what your favourite shows were/are by leaving a comment. Until tomorrow.

Top Five TV Shows...that I currently watch...

Time for another BEdA blog. I have to say that I am rather impressed that I have made it this far so, if you will indulge me for one moment I will do a happy little dance. ::*::scoots to one side and proceeds to dance somewhat badly to imagined music::*:: Ah, thanks, I needed that.

Anyway, after watching three rather bad films last night I think I need to blog about something that is actually rather good so here goes my top five TV shows that I currently watch. Most will be shows currently airing on the three main channels in New Zealand at this time, if not they are shows that I have ordered from the UK or the US because Amazon is awesome.

Supernatural 
I love this show. I cannot describe how much I love this show but I really, really do. I'm annoyed with TVNZ for screening it at a stupid time and being almost a season behind but thankfully for amazon I am able to get my fix. I have blogged about this show many times before and will probably continue to blog about it. I can't help it. Sam, Dean, Castiel...they are all great characters and, seriously, who wouldn't want a brother that would die for you or help you avert the apocalypse. Not to mention the great soundtrack and the hunting of various nasties.

Criminal Minds
I don't know when I first started watching this but I know that I came to it late. That doesn't really matter because I love the intelligence of this show though there have been many negative comments made about it. I love the fact that the effort has been made not to dumb down any of the characters and that they are all different. How often do you see a show where you can actually feel sorry or empathise with an unsub?*

Bones
This was another show that I came to relatively late. I had kind of watched the first season ages ago but it was when I was in California last year that I managed to purchase the first two seasons and, since then, I have been hooked. It is another intelligent show and the cast seem perfect. I truly felt sorry for Zack and I love the fact that Hodges and Angela are together. And Temperance is hilarious and very intelligent.

The Big Bang Theory
I am not a big fan of comedy to be quite honest. I don't laugh out loud at a lot of stuff but I really enjoy TBBT. It's witty and it is geeky. (Yay for geekiness!) And there are many little jokes there for everyone, not just physicists.

House
I love Hugh Laurie and the snarky doctor that he plays. Unfortunately, I haven't been following the latest season as much as I would, usually, but the first seasons were amazing. It was something a little but different and, even though it is somewhat formulaic, it is an entertaining watch.

Honorable mentions: Doctor Who, Cougar Town, NCIS, NCIS:LA, Eureka, Warehouse 13, The Walking Dead (A lot of these are shows I don't get on my 3 channels so I have to wait to order them online.)

It's another short list today because I've had one of those mornings. I slept in, cut my ankle shaving, forgot to leave one of the vats off to get changed and had a blood nose to top that all off. I think I might need to indulge in some chocolate...or a good book. And a nice cup of tea.

 

*Unsub = unknown subject - look at me with all the terminology.

Five tunes - the good kind of earworms

I often get music stuck in my head. Most of the time it is good music and, every so often, it isn't. I've already talked about the songs that annoy me so here goes a list of songs that I find catchy at the moment. These are all ones that are in the charts on iTunes as I have to make sure to limit my choices otherwise I will go on and on. As a disclaimer or a side note all these will come from the New Zealand iTunes store cause...well...that's where I am.

I've also gone to the extra trouble to provide video clips from YouTube incase you wanted to see how amazing these songs are. Warning: there is some bad language; you have been warned. Enjoy. 

F*** You/Forget You - Cee Lo Green
Simon Pegg tweeted about this song last year and I instantly fell in love with it. The lyrics are witty and the beat is catchy plus it is a fun song. It is upbeat even though the subject matter is quite, um, serious...that's not the word I am really looking for but I'm sure you catch my drift. Even the video for it is beautifully done. And, let's face it, I find myself humming it for days on end.

Have You Ever Seen the Rain - CCR
I'm adding this just cause I am thrilled that it is in the charts. I have been a fan of CCR since I was knee high to a grasshopper.* My favourite of theirs was Looking Out My Back Door for a long time or Bad Moon Rising but this song is still amazing and the vocals are such a change from a lot of the music that is coming out at present. (No auto tune makes me happy.)**

Use Somebody - Kings of Leon
I love Kings of Leon and this song is definitely my favourite. It's gritty and juts very raw. Plus some of the covers of this song are amazing. It is a beautifully written song.

Raise Your Glass - P!nk
I love P!nk. I love the sound of her voice, her 'honeybadger don't give a sh*t' attitude and her strong lyrics and this song is no exception. I could listen to this song all day. Then I'd be sick of it but I'd still recognise it for the good song that it is.

Little Lion Man - Mumford & Sons
I have to admit that I hadn't heard of them until very recently but this song got stuck in my mind and I love it. It's got an agressive tone but that makes it great to sing along with and the actual music itself is a bit different which makes it stand out in my mind.

Until next time. Enjoy the tunes and let me know what you think or what your favourites are.

*Yes I know this is impossible but I love the saying and for some strange reason I always imagine the grasshopper from an old Disney short...at least I think it is a Disney short.
**I'm not against auto tune but it is over used at the moment. Or so I feel.