# Top Geek



## Winston (Feb 4, 2013)

The game is simple.  Out-geek me.

I know you're out there.  Embrace your geek-ness.  If you ever belonged to the chess club, or owed a microscope and reactive chemicals, play.
If you know the atomic weight of Cesium, you're in.  If you know the difference between a Photon and Proton torpedo, step up.

I'll start off easy.  Top this:


I was a charter subscriber to _Omni_ magazine.  When I was twelve.


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## TheWonderingNovice (Feb 5, 2013)

I own an Alien Encyclopia, and I high light in it.


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## Lewdog (Feb 5, 2013)

I took computer programming classes when I was in the third grade, on an apple computer, in 1985...


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## moderan (Feb 5, 2013)

I still have every issue of Omni magazine.
I have every issue of Creepy, of Eerie, of the Avengers until 2009, of the FF until 2007, and of Detective Comics until 2006.
I have all of the Beatles' albums, on vinyl, as originals (including their first, Meet the Beatles, on Vee Jay records).
I took a degree in Computer Science before the personal computer revolution (1981). I know FORTRAN. There's more but that'll do for now.


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## Lewdog (Feb 5, 2013)

I was in the TAG (Talented and Gifted) program as a kid.  I never got less than a 99% on the Iowa Standarized Test.


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## Winston (Feb 5, 2013)

All very good, you bunch of overachievers!  Keep 'em coming.  And I'd never heard of The Alien Encyclopedia.

I own, and sometimes reference The Starfleet Technical Manual.  It's my second copy.  My first was purchased in the mid seventies, and had that "pleather" cover with gold inlay.  I bought it about the same time as the Star Trek Blueprints (complete deck plans of the U.S.S. Enterprise).


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## moderan (Feb 5, 2013)

I know where Waldo is.


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## Lewdog (Feb 5, 2013)

I know if Atlantis is real or not, and I'm not telling.


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## Winston (Feb 5, 2013)

moderan said:


> I know where Waldo is.



You're already in the lead.  Give everyone else a chance!


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## beanlord56 (Feb 5, 2013)

I'm me.




moderan said:


> I know where Waldo is.


As do I.


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## Lewdog (Feb 5, 2013)

I worked at a Comic Book store as a kid.


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## moderan (Feb 6, 2013)

I worked on a comic book as a kid. Was a background inker for Now Comics for a summer.


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## Winston (Feb 6, 2013)

When I was ten, I sent NASA detailed plans on how to construct a manned Mars lander.  They sent back a nice typed letter on department letterhead, thanking me.


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## moderan (Feb 6, 2013)

Nice. I have a vintage Bond Aston-Martin and an original-issue Enterprise. I got them from Woolworth's.


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## alanmt (Feb 6, 2013)

I have a comic book collection including X-Men 1.  I have alpha Magic the Gathering Cards and have a framed Black Lotus on my wall. I have a game room for my draqonquest/D&D/Pathfinder group. I have a sword collection and a dragon collection and sets of maps and shields from game of thrones on the wall. I wear a House Baratheon pendant, and my one tattoo is SPQR surrounded by a wreath of laurel leaves. I have had an elven poem from LOTR  and the song of the forestals from the Thomas Covenant series memorized since age 13.  I am a yaoi fan. I have bullets from the battle of fredericksburg and a roman legionaire's ring (5th legion) from the second centruy a.d. I play guild wars.

I have written a humorous poem about tentacle rape.  It is my most requested performance piece.


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## moderan (Feb 6, 2013)

LOL...Maria Ozawa is probably a fan.


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## alanmt (Feb 6, 2013)

Also:  my profile pic.  'Nuff said.

I do draw the line at live action roleplay and furries.


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## moderan (Feb 6, 2013)

It should go without saying that I own several copies of everything HP Lovecraft wrote as far as fiction, nonfiction, and verse, and a copy of each of the extant volumes of his letters. Also Clark Ashton Smith, Frank Belknap Long, and Robert E Howard.
At one time I had 14,000 sf paperbacks. I now have four times that number on my Kindle. That includes the complete works of Asimov, Brunner, Clarke, Dick, Dickson, Ellison, Farmer, Gerrold, Heinlein, Leinster, Matheson, Niven, Pohl, and Zelazny. I know who Ross Rocklynne and Mack Reynolds were. I have Scalzi's reinterpretation of H. Beam Piper. I've lived on Rocannon's World. Also complete collections of Chandler, Hammett, Cornell Woolrich, David Goodis, and Jim Thompson. And King and Barker and McCammon. John Farris. Graham Masterton. Kinky Friedman. Carl Hiassen. And more.
I have all of Spider-Man (Amazing and Spectacular) and Amazing Fantasy. Plus Tales of Suspense, Iron Man til 2006, Daredevil til 2007, the Hulk til 2006, Marvel Two-in-One, Marvel Team-up, Nick Fury, Agent of Shield, every issue of the Silver Surfer (all incarnations) and all of Kirby's Fourth World. Also all of Thor til 2002. I can tell who did the art in most comics by glancing at the page. Also JLA/JLI/JLE/Justice Society. I remember when the Blue Beetle was in Charlton Comics with Little Lulu.


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## dolphinlee (Feb 6, 2013)

Julie Smith (a novelist) defined a geek as "a bright young man turned inward, poorly socialized, who felt so little kinship with his own planet that he routinely traveled to the ones invented by his favorite authors, who thought of that secret, dreamy place his computer took him to as cyberspace—somewhere exciting, a place more real than his own life, a land he could conquer, not a drab teenager's room in his parents' house.

How are you defining a geek?


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## moderan (Feb 6, 2013)

Way pre-cyberspace. But not so far as to bite the heads off of chickens.


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## Ariel (Feb 6, 2013)

*grabs a comfy chair and popcorn*

At least I could get a reading list from this thread.


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## rotsuchi1 (Feb 6, 2013)

I have spiderman blankets and pillow cases, was vice president of the anime club, have avenger action figures still, still collect pokemon cards and magic cards, own all starwars movies and have collectable action figures of the main characters, my friend group hangs out (from 3rd grade to now -12th) in the library, my room is full of comic books and the walls are covered with anime posters, I played with lightsabers in public at age 15 and have been wanting to do it again since my dream is to go to an anime convention... and the ren. fair


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## beanlord56 (Feb 6, 2013)

I'm an autograph hoarder. I've got signed copies of _Innocence & Instinct_ and _Until We Have Faces_ by Red; _Demon Hunter_, _Summer of Darkness_, _Storm the Gates of Hell_, _The World Is A Thorn_ and _True Defiance_ by Demon Hunter_; The Physics of Fire_, _Dichotomy_, _Celestial Completion_ and _I Am_ by Becoming the Archetype; _The Life and Death_ by A Plea for Purging_; Heavy Worship_ by The Great Commission; _Ekklesia_, _Portraits_, _Breaker _and _Immortal_ by For Today; _Inheritors_ by Serianna; _Pride of the Wicke_d, _Fire from the Tomb_, _Arise & Conquer_ and _Eternal_ by War of Ages; _Kingdom Days in an Evil Age_ by Sleeping Giant; and _Confessions_ by Pillar. I also have posters signed by Becoming the Archetype, Serianna and Convictions, and _The Circle Trilogy _(the edition released before _Green_) by Ted Dekker.

I have Nolan-verse batarang replicas, sharp enough to cut a toe off if dropped.

I have a homemade Ghostbuster jumpsuit, and an Amon mask from Avatar: The Legend of Korra.


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## Circadian (Feb 6, 2013)

I own the Star Trek blueprints.

I have the lyrics to Venusian Lullaby, Song of Freedom, and Vale Decem memorized from Doctor Who.

A few years ago, my birthday parties would consist of going to the planetarium or the dinosaur museum and then stopping by at Barnes & Noble.

When I was a kid, my best friend and I were obsessed with Pokemon and would have Pokemon duels, even in public.

When I was in high school, I was part of the astronomy club.

I still regret never dressing as a pirate or a dalek for Halloween.

My dream is to go to Gallifrey One someday and join the Doctor Who Fan Orchestra.

...And that's all I can think of at the moment.


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## moderan (Feb 6, 2013)

It gets worse. I am also an old-school baseball geek. Though I know about WAR and visit fangraphs often, I love the game, not the system, and not the newfangled stats. Gimme ERA and RBI. I went to my first major league game in 1964. I get the Bill James Baseball Abstract every year. I know who Manny Sanguillen was, and why they call Gene Michael "Stick". I know Catfish Hunter's given name, and the outfield dimensions of most parks. I have three copies of Jim Bouton's first book, and one each of Sparky Lyle's, Mickey Mantle's, and Don Zimmer's. I have all of Ron Luciano's books. I know that the Chicago Cubs (I love the Cubs) were once the White Stockings, and that they played in Weeghman Park.
There are far more dimensions to geekdom than is first apparent. This is the tip of the geekburg.


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## Tony-The-Tiger (Feb 6, 2013)

I have the usual bases covered.  I'm a fan of Star Trek, Star Wars, Babylon 5, Dungeons and Dragons, video games, all that business.  However, one of my nerd pursuits has utterly dominated all the others.

In my adolescence I played a lot of Magic: the Gathering, and i mean a lot of it.  I played in local tournaments almost every weekend and got good enough to play for big money in a few professional-level tournaments, most notably in Osaka and Prague.  I won the Oklahoma State Championship twice.  It took up a lot of my time, but it wasn't wasted; so much of what I learned playing Magic I have been able to apply to my writing.

I used to own more than 30'000 cards, but lost them when my house burned down.  I still play, still love the game, but I don't want to spend my mental energy on getting back into it that seriously, so now it's just for fun.


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## Winston (Feb 6, 2013)

Good to see you guys have the animie, comic and fantasy side if things all tied up.

@ Dolphine:  Your definition of "geek" works.  I tend to think of the four gents from The Big Bang Theory.  When I laugh at them, I laugh at part of me.  I'm 50% Sheldon, 30% Leonard, and about 10% apiece Raj and Howard.

@ Moderan:  I don't find your love of baseball geekish.  Some may say quirky.  I say cool.

@ Rotsuschi1:  I still own have my original issue Star Wars sheet set.  Twin sized.  My son used it for a year or two. 

OK, just to keep my in the game:  I was in The Junior Statesmen of America, or "Junior State", in high school.  That's right... debate team.  My first steady girl was a geek, too.  Asked her out as a teen touring the Stanford campus.  That's romantic, for a geek.

Keep 'em coming.  I'm still saving some of my good stuff.


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## moderan (Feb 6, 2013)

Winston said:


> @ Moderan:  I don't find your love of baseball geekish.  Some may say quirky.  I say cool.
> 
> 
> OK, just to keep my in the game:  I was in The Junior Statesmen of America, or "Junior State", in high school.  That's right... debate team.  My first steady girl was a geek, too.  Asked her out as a teen touring the Stanford campus.  That's romantic, for a geek.
> ...


Thanks. So am I. But I'm afraid that I have no ST/SW/Dr Who/anime stuff. Except that Enterprise model.
I do have @200 alien figurines. All kinds, from the mundane Grays to a set of Known Space statuettes (Kzin, Puppeteer, Protector) that were handmade and sold only at ChiCon in 1999. A tiny Giger alien, a Predator...and a Motie. A Hainian and a Hairy Cetian, from the same ChiCon.


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## Winston (Feb 6, 2013)

moderan said:


> ... A tiny Giger alien, a Predator...



Stan Winston and and H.R. Giger!  You have to be a true geek to appreciate that art.  The dichotomy of terror and beauty.  Grace and brutality.  The film _Prometheus _failed in many ways, but the visuals were worth it.

Oh, and it's not just what you have.  A true geek knows how to flaunt it.  I once owned a Vulcan IDIC ring. 




(example)

I wore it under my glove on my little league team.  Live Long and Chew Bubblegum.


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## Caragula (Feb 7, 2013)

I was the subject of a five page video game magazine article about my obsession with Ultima Online, and they did a photoshoot of me in full costume plate armour, armour used by brian blessed in the first Black Adder series.

I have made video games for over ten years and got to work briefly with Nilo Rodis, who apparently designed Boba Fett's Slave One and co-designed Buzz Lightyear.


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## Freakconformist (Feb 7, 2013)

Ummm, I have never really been a "fandom" geek, even though I had a sizable collection of X-Men and rage-quit when Scott had an affair with Emma. 
Though, I did take everyone to see X-Men (2001) for my 21st birthday party. 
I am a random fact/history buff, but I don't memorize this stuff I just remember it. (Yes, there's a  difference.) Also, I _*enjoy*_ filing. 
I think the geekiest thing I ever did was write my one and only fan-fic for T-Rex, a dinosaur/superhero cartoon from the early '90s. 
The Adventures of T-Rex intro - YouTube
I regularly watched Saturday morning cartoons until I was 17, and I only stopped because so many channels stopped doing SMCs, and  those that did showed mostly Power Rangers, which I have loathed with a vile ember of hatefulness since the third show of the first season in 1993.


I think I would be classified more as a "nerd" than a "geek".


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## Bruno Spatola (Feb 7, 2013)

I know _The Nightmare Before Christmas_ word for word, song for song, and move for move. That's the only thing I can think of.


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## Arcopitcairn (Feb 7, 2013)

moderan said:


> LOL...Maria Ozawa is probably a fan.



Oooooh. Maria Ozawa...God.

Your comic collection sounds pretty sweet. I've been collecting comics for 30 years and all I have is 4 short boxes. I do have a run of Captain Canuck You said that you can identify comic artists just by looking at the panels. I'm pretty good at that myself. We should try and stump each other sometime!

As for geekiness...a lot of you guys have me trumped but let's see. I'm a horror geek, so I've seen every Halloween and Friday the 13th movie on the big screen. I saw Zombi at the drive-in. I have Fred Hembeck original art. I bought Miracleman 15 off the rack and waited forever for #16. Saw Transformers: The Movie on the big screen. I have an original hardcover of Superfolks. I've beaten the Hunk and Tofu extra missions on Resident Evil 2. I have a framed picture of Wally Wood. I collect Hugo: Man of a Thousand Faces dolls. I came in fourth in a Star Wars trivia contest at DragonCon. At a comic book retailer convention (I also worked at a comic store) in St. Louis I told Brian Pulido that Lady Death was crap at the DC Appreciation Dinner. I guess that's some geeky stuff.


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## moderan (Feb 7, 2013)

It took me years to search it out, and it's all electronic. I have the entire output of Marvel comics, except for the westerns and Millie the Model, from inception til the mid-80s. I do have paper editions, mostly the valuable older ones in their plastic envelopes, but I don't read those. I also have Heavy Metal, Epic Illustrated, Creepy, Eerie, Tales from The Crypt, the Haunt of Horror, the Vault of Terror, the works of Richard Corben, Moebius, and Berni Wrightson. Also Golden Age things like Justice Society, the Jay Garrick Flash, the Alan Scott Lantern, Cap and Bucky...and more.
Ridiculous actually.
I don't play videogames. I don't do anime other than Cowboy Bebop. That stuff bores me to tears. I collect horror paperbacks too. They go along nicely with the sf. In the last ten years, I've been converting all libraries into electronic ones because it makes moving easier.
How much? I have a 2 terabyte drive full of books and comics. Think about _that_.
Mad magazine. Plop! Spy vs Spy. The Far Side. I collect macabre stuff like Gahan Wilson and Charles Addams. Underground comics, Vaughn Bode, R. Crumb, Zippy...most of them were my things. I scanned them and sold the originals on eBay for moving money when I first came to Tucson.
As previously discussed, I'm a horror geek too...it's just that we have different definitions. And a rock geek. And a baseball geek. And there's football, and hockey-I tend to get geekily into whatever I get into. I'm also a political journalism geek, have been since Theodore White's condemnation of the Nixon White House and the Campaign Trail '72. And history, and science...sf writers read more history than science, I've found. It makes extrapolation more accurate.


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## Ariel (Feb 7, 2013)

Mod, you might try Samauri Champloo, it was produced/directed by the same guy that did Cowboy Bebop.  Has the same nutty outsider feel but set in Edo era Japan.


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## moderan (Feb 7, 2013)

Thank you. I probably won't. I've been trying to get through Akira for years. Opaque to me. Bad sf too. What got me into Bebop was the bebop-that music is the awesome.


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## Bruno Spatola (Feb 7, 2013)

The scene in_ Akira_ where Tetsuo grows and corrupts like an out-of-control tumor blows me away every time I see it. And that cloak, I love it -- he becomes a real-life super villain. 

I like _Blood the Last Vampire_, _Ghost in the Shell_, _Vampire Hunter D, Samurai Champloo,_ and the Miyazaki-helmed Ghibli movies take me to another level. I've been recommended _Afro Samurai_, will watch that soon.


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## moderan (Feb 7, 2013)

Great for you. For me, it goes spla.


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## Ariel (Feb 7, 2013)

Mod, I don't like Akira either.  Couldn't get into Evangelion, or Ghost in the Shell.  But I liked Samuraii Champloo.  For a decent sci-fi short anime movie try "Voices of a Distant Star." Very sad, very poignant, doesn't focus too closely on the science.  Reminded me a little of "Ender's Game."


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## Arcopitcairn (Feb 7, 2013)

moderan said:


> It took me years to search it out, and it's all electronic. I have the entire output of Marvel comics, except for the westerns and Millie the Model, from inception til the mid-80s. I do have paper editions, mostly the valuable older ones in their plastic envelopes, but I don't read those. I also have Heavy Metal, Epic Illustrated, Creepy, Eerie, Tales from The Crypt, the Haunt of Horror, the Vault of Terror, the works of Richard Corben, Moebius, and Berni Wrightson. Also Golden Age things like Justice Society, the Jay Garrick Flash, the Alan Scott Lantern, Cap and Bucky...and more.
> Ridiculous actually.
> I don't play videogames. I don't do anime other than Cowboy Bebop. That stuff bores me to tears. I collect horror paperbacks too. They go along nicely with the sf. In the last ten years, I've been converting all libraries into electronic ones because it makes moving easier.
> How much? I have a 2 terabyte drive full of books and comics. Think about _that_.
> ...



I just usenetted a couple gigs of Golden Age comics yesterday. Some Crack Comics, Smash, Four Favorites, Herbie, the Fat Fury, and a bunch of others. Bless the scanners, because I'd never get to read this stuff otherwise.

I used to be into Japanimation in the early to mid-eighties, but I fell out pretty quickly. It just doesn't do much for me. I did watch Tiger and Bunny recently, which was fun, but that's only because it was about superheroes. Have you seen any of the recent DC animated movies, like JLA: Crisis on Two Earths, All Star Superman, or Green Lantern: First Flight? I like those way better than Japanimation. They're more my speed.


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## moderan (Feb 7, 2013)

[ot]Maybe. Thank you for the recommendations. Yuk. I have my third bad cold of the winter and it's making my poor little peabrain all fuzzy.[/ot]


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## Nemesis (Feb 7, 2013)

I liked some of the lighter japanese cartoons when I was younger, but now I much prefer my anime to be serious. My two biggest would Ghost in the Shell and Lain, which only had one season sadly, additionally I like the ones that are horror based because some of that stuff is really creepy.


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## moderan (Feb 7, 2013)

Arcopitcairn said:


> I just usenetted a couple gigs of Golden Age comics yesterday. Some Crack Comics, Smash, Four Favorites, Herbie, the Fat Fury, and a bunch of others. Bless the scanners, because I'd never get to read this stuff otherwise.
> 
> I used to be into Japanimation in the early to mid-eighties, but I fell out pretty quickly. It just doesn't do much for me. I did watch Tiger and Bunny recently, which was fun, but that's only because it was about superheroes. Have you seen any of the recent DC animated movies, like JLA: Crisis on Two Earths, All Star Superman, or Green Lantern: First Flight? I like those way better than Japanimation. They're more my speed.



Yeah. I don't like the character voices. I can't sit still to watch that stuff. I'm not so much into superheroes anymore...it's all gotten too same-y and doesn't have any resonance for me.


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## rotsuchi1 (Feb 7, 2013)

i love Cowboy Bebop!!! My first love was Spike XD


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## moderan (Feb 7, 2013)

[ot]It's okay for a momentary diversion (Cowboy Bebop). I have the whole series and the movie and I am still working through it. I'm an old man and my entertainments and perspectives are different than those of younger folk. I prefer reading to movies, movies to tv, tv to video games. The things I like tend to be prose-driven, story-oriented. SFX are optional, though I do like explosions.[/ot]


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## Lewdog (Feb 7, 2013)

I wore sweat pants almost exclusively from second grade until 7th grade because I didn't like being labeled 'Husky.'  Then hormones kicked in and I worried more about my appearance than how comfortable I was.  It's just one of life's cycles as now I am 36 and while sitting around the house I almost always have sweat pants on to feel comfortable.  Give me another 30+ years and I'll be wearing diapers once again and the cycle will be complete.


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## Freakconformist (Feb 7, 2013)

Some people aren't into anime because they just don't care all that much about the art, and that's okay. I never got into Star Wars or Babylon 5, and I don't feel deprived. Lets face it, once  you take the art out of the loop, most animes are made of a whole lot of crazy. Not everybody is going  to be into it. 

On Topic: 
I have a collection of web-comics, more than 60 links and growing.
These are my recommendations for the Science fiction crowd:
Girl Genius (best steam-punk web-comic ever)
Dominic Deegan: Oracle for Hire (starts out slow, but worth the effort)
The Dreamland Chronicles 
Gunnerkrigg Court 
Trying Human (alien love story)

Edit:


Lewdog said:


> I wore sweat pants almost exclusively from second grade until 7th grade because I didn't like being labeled 'Husky.' Then hormones kicked in and I worried more about my appearance than how comfortable I was. It's just one of life's cycles as now I am 36 and while sitting around the house I almost always have sweat pants on to feel comfortable. Give me another 30+ years and I'll be wearing diapers once again and the cycle will be complete.



I was the opposite, after a certain age I refused to wear anything with an elastic waist band because they made me feel fat. I try to mostly wear slacks now because they make me feel more professional. (Hopefully, some  of that false confidence will lead to an actual job.)


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## Lewdog (Feb 7, 2013)

King of the Nerds just came on!


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## Winston (Feb 8, 2013)

Being a geek isn't about what you collect, it's what you do.  For example, I build things like this:








It's a Computoaster.  It had dual Opterons and WD Raptors running in a raid array.  The funny thing was, it didn't run hot.
I also made a Borg Cube computer case.  Had to get rid of that one.  Just too creepy.

So, top that.  Or forfeit.  
Yeah, I just rolled for initiative.  Your move.


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## moderan (Feb 8, 2013)

Word. I circuit-bend guitar pedals. Buy two, change the path of one. Different sound. 
I can replace the power supply and tubes in most commercial amps by feel, in the dark. I can intonate your guitar by ear. I can handwind your pickups if I have to. Cuz, yeah...anyone who's been a traveling band member can do that, and macGyver things like car battery terminals and duct-tape the starter into place so you can keep on going.
Collections are just a facet of geekdom. You have to know how things work too.
Last week, I invented a midi pickup, because I had to have one. I used it to perform a *flying saucer solo* on this song. You make gadgets. I make music.


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## Winston (Feb 8, 2013)

> *flying saucer solo* on this song


To my ears, it's like Joe Satriani hooked-up with Cuzco.  And tube amps? +1

My daughter claims the musical gift in my family, although her geek factor is low.  Much more nature over nurture with that one.  As far as my son?  The Force is strong in that one.  Has a ton of Midi-chlorians, he does.

Back into the geek ring:  I launch model rockets with my kids.  I made one that looks like a pint of beer (it flies like it's drunk).  The kids speak in hushed tones of the one Mystery Rocket:  It went sideways, into the woods, and disappeared without a trace.  I told them it was an NSA testbed for a new hyper-velocity spy drone.  It went FTL, and we have to wait 30.2 years for it to decelerate back into our field of spacetime.


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## Lewdog (Feb 9, 2013)

I used to be such a big sports nerd I could name the starting lineup for every MLB, NFL, and NBA team.  I collected sports cards and could even tell you what number each player's card was in the set.  I also used to be able to name the record holders of almost every major sport and category including college sports.  I can still name the mascot for most college teams.  My favorites:  UC-Santa Cruz Banana Slugs, the Stetson University Hatters, and a small college one- The Wilmington College Fightin' Quakers.  Quakers are supposed to be pacifist.


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## moderan (Feb 9, 2013)

Winston said:


> To my ears, it's like Joe Satriani hooked-up with Cuzco.  And tube amps? +1
> 
> My daughter claims the musical gift in my family, although her geek factor is low.  Much more nature over nurture with that one.  As far as my son?  The Force is strong in that one.  Has a ton of Midi-chlorians, he does.
> 
> Back into the geek ring:  I launch model rockets with my kids.  I made one that looks like a pint of beer (it flies like it's drunk).  The kids speak in hushed tones of the one Mystery Rocket:  It went sideways, into the woods, and disappeared without a trace.  I told them it was an NSA testbed for a new hyper-velocity spy drone.  It went FTL, and we have to wait 30.2 years for it to decelerate back into our field of spacetime.



Yay Science geeks. I did the "what mineral burns with _this_ color" demo with my stepkids once, cuz their teachers didn't do it for them. Then we did it with five-and-dime rockets. Yellow sulfur! Blue cobalt! Green magnesium! Up, up, and away! I stopped short of showing the boys how to handroll firecrackers and how to make gunpowder because they were 12 and 15 respectively and that's just asking for trouble.
And thanks! *beams like Leyline compared to Sturgeon* Joe is a cool guy too, low-key. Met him a couple times. And killer player. I have all manner of devices...guitar geekery, don't get me started. I already have a thread for that *laughs*




Lewdog said:


> I used to be such a big sports nerd I could name the starting lineup for every MLB, NFL, and NBA team.  I collected sports cards and could even tell you what number each player's card was in the set.  I also used to be able to name the record holders of almost every major sport and category including college sports.  I can still name the mascot for most college teams.  My favorites:  UC-Santa Cruz Banana Slugs, the Stetson University Hatters, and a small college one- The Wilmington College Fightin' Quakers.  Quakers are supposed to be pacifist.



Could never do that for the NBA. I can't stand basketball. But I could probably do that for any MLB, NFL, or NHL franchise right now. And the starting lineups for the Cubs back until 1950 or so, off the top of my head. Never collected cards. I did collect trophies, which collected dust. Was prouder of my second-place finish (in the State) in the National Spelling Bee. I would have won but I got sick and couldn't make the final, so I had to forfeit.
Now _that's_ geekness.


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## Freakconformist (Feb 9, 2013)

Oh dear Winston, you seem to have created a monster. Moderan is out to crush the competition, lol. Should we crown him now or wait for things to get ugly?


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## moderan (Feb 9, 2013)

I'm competitive. I also suspect that Winston is holding back still. And there are people onsite who haven't even spoken, that I know have science-nerd stuff.


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## Ariel (Feb 9, 2013)

I'm only minorly geeky. I don't collect anything related to fandom, I haven't had the chance to begin building things, and I don't have specialized in-depth knowledge.  I know I'm not anywhere near top.  I console myself with the fact that I at least have a sembelance of a social life that doesn't revolve around geekdom.

What I do collect are books and tiny perfume bottles (there's actually a market for these).  I make jewelry when I can find the time and I bake.  I intend to learn to sew but I have to dig out my mother's sewing machine.  I had a nine-year subscription to Discover magazine.  (Also, Han shot first).

So, I don't belong in this thread as anything but a spectator as all my geeky creds are listed above.


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## Gumby (Feb 9, 2013)

I think I'm a closet geek. I've read through this whole thread with a disturbing fascination that borders on obsessive.


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## alanmt (Feb 9, 2013)

I'm only watching the game - controlling it


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## Olly Buckle (Feb 9, 2013)

When I learned that a parsec was 30.8 times ten to the twelfth kilometres I calculated the circumference of my head, the distance I travelled to college, and a lot of other things I have forgotten, in parsecs.


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## Winston (Feb 10, 2013)

alanmt said:


> I'm only watching the game - controlling it
> [video=youtube;lThvEsP5-9Y]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&amp;v=lThvEsP5-9Y[/video]



Yeah.  I thought that was you.


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## Lewdog (Feb 10, 2013)

Olly Buckle said:


> When I learned that a parsec was 30.8 times ten to the twelfth kilometres I calculated the circumference of my head, the distance I travelled to college, and a lot of other things I have forgotten, in parsecs.




...but how many stones do you weigh and how many hands high are you?


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## Winston (Feb 10, 2013)

Lewdog said:


> ...but how many stones do you weigh and how many hands high are you?



To qualify, that numerical answer must be in the form a Base 16 (hexadecimal) format.


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