G is for…

Geek (and Graze and Giving up)

First off I have a confession, I am a huge geek and immensely proud of this (though it has taken me a while to get to the feeling proud part).

You will see more evidence of my geek credentials tomorrow.

So what exactly is a geek. I went to the Oxford English Dictionary to find out the official definition – here’s the full page. The first result was:

“an unfashionable or socially inept person.”

Hmmm, well I wouldn’t exactly call myself fashionable but I’m not completely unfashionable (though have been – think black with neon orange stripe cycling shorts over black tights!!).

Neither would I call myself socially inept. Believe it or not I am pretty shy but I think I’m actually not too bad in social situations. I do like my own company too and often need to spend time alone to ‘recharge’. One of my biggest geeky interests has got to be TV, when I was at uni I much preferred to stay in with a good telly programme or go to the cinema than to go out clubbing (I did do some of that – though I did give up alcohol for a whole term at uni!). It actually got to a point where I felt people were being a little mean about it so eventually I did stand up for myself and asked people to respect my interests. Boy did I write some cathartic poetry during that time too.

So back to the definition which I wasn’t too happy with so I clicked to get the fuller explanation which added:

“[usually with modifier] a knowledgeable and obsessive enthusiast: a computer geek”

Ah, OK this is more like it. Knowledgeable and obsessive (again you’ll see evidence of this tomorrow).

When I get into something, I really get into it. I buy books related to it, Google it, save articles about it from magazines etc. Before I go on let’s look at what else the OED has to say:

“Origin: late 19th century: from the related English dialect word geck ‘fool’, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch gek ‘mad, silly'”

Mad and silly and fool are words that have never been used to describe me, *ahem*.

“Word trends: Is being a geek something to be proud of? A few decades ago the answer would almost certainly have been no : the word was a cruel and critical label attached to clever, but socially awkward, people: train-spotters, computer geeks, and unpopular college students. Then in the 1990s everything changed. The computer industry helped many geeks to achieve great success, and the wider perception of geeks began to shift. Being a geek was suddenly a positive thing , suggesting an admirable level of knowledge, expertise, and passion: geeks could do ‘cool stuff’. It’s now common for people to be self-proclaimed or self-confessed geeks, with geekiness no longer confined to the world of science and technology (a music geek with an awesome vinyl collection, the kind of film that every true movie geek would give five stars). Nerds have undergone a similar change of image but to a lesser extent, with some negative terms such as boring and pathetic still commonly attached to the word.”

Wow, the OED is basically agreeing with me. I know amongst my group of friends that geek is used as a term of endearment rather than an insult, *right?* And I do do cool stuff (ha, I said do do).

So what am I/have I been geeky about (not a complete list):

The subject of tomorrow’s H post (come on you should be able to guess, I don’t need to give you a hint).

A number of gorgeous male actors

In the past – My Little Pony and Care Bears (I might have bought the movies more recently on DVD – just for the nostalgia)

Buffy, Angel, Charmed, Supernatural,

The X Files – lots of TV shows in general

Films (I used to subscribe to Total Film and still have lots of issues to review and chuck out – I can’t do it)

I have an extensive DVD collection, films sorted alphabetically, TV series by season and genre.

I have lots of books (far less organised though kind of by author and genre)

I have lots of CDs – these are stupidly disorganised but need to be sorted. I cringe when I look at them all messy.

Writing

Occupational Therapy

Gadgets and computer/online stuff – though I am one of those annoying self taught people who doesn’t know as much as people may think I do.

I’m sure I could add more but I’ll stop there.

I was going to add a geeky picture of me doing a Dwayne Dibley impression but I can’t find it and on second thoughts maybe that would hamper my gaining street cred!

Graze

My new geeky fad is grazing, I have been getting little boxes of goodness delivered to me at home and splitting each box into two and taking them to work to nibble across the day rather than have a normal lunch. The idea behind grazing is mainly that this should help by balancing blood sugars through you eating little and often rather than getting the normal office post lunch slump. Also to make your snacks healthier than lots of biscuits and crisps so I have been doing this at the weekends too. Ideally it is meant to help with weight too. Now I can’t say I have noticed any noticeable difference in my weight (but maybe the Chinese Takeaways and Easter Eggs haven’t been helping here). But I have noticed some benefits.

I have been making an effort to have something for breakfast – usually Weetabix or if I don’t have time at home I grab a banana and satsuma. Previously (because I am not in any way, shape or form, a morning person I often skipped breakfast and sometimes due to lack of time or inclination missed lunch too – not good or healthy).

I eat when I’m hungry but just a little bit then wait to see if I’m still hungry before having more, sometimes I even check if I’m thirsty instead.

I have realised that I definitely eat when I’m bored – it has been much harder to be good at home during this week off though having the boxes has helped.

It’s actually cheaper – even full price at £3.49 I split the boxes across two days when previously (because I am too lazy to make lunch) I was buying a Jacket Potato or sandwich or salad and spending that on one day (+).

I do think I’ve had more energy especially in the afternoon.

I have been getting excited by food, I can’t wait to see what’s in my next box (they’ve just released some new options) and I’ve tried some new things (but I have binned all the olives, yuck, and things that are too hot and spicy like wasabi).

I have twice dropped or spilt my graze supplies at work, once because of a poor container it spilled in my handbag so I bought special clipped containers to keep it safe then I knocked the open container onto the floor because of talking with my hands (I have to grossly admit to using the 10 second rule with some of the larger items – not seeds).

Finally with the genius of the send soon option I can now look forward to my favourite apple and cinnamon flapjacks arriving tomorrow. Yum.

If you are interested in trying a box for free (with a half price second box) please use the link below (I get a £1 off or a £1 to give to charity – so far I’ve given more to the charity). Some hints are make sure you go and rate the foods, bin anything you don’t like or are allergic too. If there are any you really fancy trying that have a send soon box tick them. http://www.graze.com/p/NL731DW

Giving up (temporarily)

OK, I’ll admit it I had a temporary geeky bout of ‘I’m going to do lots of writing insanity’ caused by attendance at the Southern Script Writing Festival and a week of work but it has got to Friday of my week off and I’ve wanted to do (and have mostly done that) nothing but sleep and veg in front of the TV. I am really enjoying the Blogging from A-Z Challenge so going to keep going with that. I’m a paid up member of the Whittaker Fiction and Poetry competition so I’m going to keep up with that as best as I can. But I’ve written nothing for ScriptFrenzy so I’m giving up. Let me reassure you this is temporary. I’m not giving up on the Script itself, I just can’t do it this April. I need to admit to myself that I’m just not yet geeky enough about Scriptwriting, I don’t have enough knowledge to get stuck into writing one in this short a space of time. Instead I will use any spare time this month to read up around this, learn to use my Scrivener software and preparing for May you write your novel by re-reading my 50,000 NaNo words and outlining what I need to add.

Just one question today

What brings out your inner geek?