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I like that "geek" has gained a positive connotation of late (if only within the geek community), but its redemption does have certain repercussions. I listen to the "GeekDads" podcast (from Wired), and read a blog called "Geek Parenting", and one thing I notice is that these people have much better social lives than I do. Even their stories of childhood seem kind of nice: "I was such an outcast in high school, all I had was my weekly D&D game." Dude, in high school I would sit in my room alone reading my collection of D&D manuals, making up new characters and creatures and whatnot. I could only dream of actually participating in an actual role-playing game with other people (not counting a few times where I tried being a DM at Scout camp for some kids who knew even less about the game than I did). That's not to say I was friendless in high school (some have become lifelong friends, though not as close as I'd like), but I was always uncomfortably nerdy compared to all of them (with one or two exceptions, kids who bordered on Urkelhood). Sci-fi conventions, LARPs, role-playing and other games...that's a lot of social interaction for people who are notoriously bad at social interaction.
While listening to the GeekDads podcast, I realize that the host sounds exactly like my youngest brother M, and that makes me think: maybe that's the sort of person who is being classified as a geek, someone like M. Thing is, in our family M is the socialite. He gets along with people easily (even in the inner-city school he works in), he used to hang out with his friends to all hours even during high school, and he (gasp) even drinks alcohol! But he's also a music theory geek and a music teacher. At his wedding, I described M as "the cool one of our family", which apparently amused a number of his friends, so maybe he is relatively geeky.
The redemption of geekiness means that a lot of socially well-adjusted people are now considered geeks (including most of you, dear readers), while persons like myself can only WISH they were cool enough to be one.
While listening to the GeekDads podcast, I realize that the host sounds exactly like my youngest brother M, and that makes me think: maybe that's the sort of person who is being classified as a geek, someone like M. Thing is, in our family M is the socialite. He gets along with people easily (even in the inner-city school he works in), he used to hang out with his friends to all hours even during high school, and he (gasp) even drinks alcohol! But he's also a music theory geek and a music teacher. At his wedding, I described M as "the cool one of our family", which apparently amused a number of his friends, so maybe he is relatively geeky.
The redemption of geekiness means that a lot of socially well-adjusted people are now considered geeks (including most of you, dear readers), while persons like myself can only WISH they were cool enough to be one.
