From time to time I like to read fashion magazines, like Dutch Vogue, Elle or Glamour. I turned into a bit of a fashion chick, regardless of my age. When Nike introduced their City Collection in the beginning of March, my only thought was “WANT!”. Only to find out that everything was sold out on the very first day the sale started. I managed to get hold of a pair recently, meaning that I will have to have leftovers for dinner for the next couple of weeks. Which by the way reminds me that I have to check I didn’t throw them away when I cleand the freezer recently. It’s not easy being fashionable but it’s worth it 😉
I never skip the “Hey it’s OK…” page in Glamour. It’s harmless, but sometimes there’s a truth in there. This month’s gem was “Hey, it’s OK… if you’ve never seen any Star Wars movie”. When I read it, I thought, good, I’m not alone. I mean, I don’t especially like Star Wars and (spoiler alert) the only thing I can tell about it is that Darth Vader is Luke’s father. Which is not really a surprise if Dutch is your mother tongue.
In a distant past I saw “The Empire Strikes Back”, I should admit. Somewhere near the end of 1980, at the age of 10, taken there by a classmate, who told me that it was a fantastic movie and that I should come along and see it. I never told him I didn’t understand anything at all.
All in all I don’t know much about modern geek culture. Ranging from Star Wars to Star Trek, from Tolkien to Game of Thrones, I missed out on almost everything. And those are the things that come to mind when I think of geek culture. There’s a whole lot more that I don’t even know about.
I do know that Star Trek sparked quite a few inventions. Those inventions have become part of day to day life and escaped the realm of geekdom. Just like the number 42 has become part of mainstream culture, so I feel quite comfortable referring to it. But I never succeeded finishing the first chapter of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
The same is true for comics and webcomics. Dilbert, xkcd, The Oatmeal, Cyanide and Happiness, I sometimes read them if one of my real geek friends posts one on Facebook, or if a colleague sticks a copy on the fridge. That’s all.
Yes, I pretended to be one, in an attempt not to be noted, so that nobody would find out that I was a fashion chick who preferred to watch Project Runway or some soap series on TV and that I enjoy reading chicklets. And maybe I’ve got enough going on at the moment so if I need to relax it’s better not to do anything that’s challenged the mind too much.
For someone working in Information Technology, I’m pretty bad at being a nerd.