Ais's Blog - Posts Tagged "geekiness"
research love
wow I really love researching. It's kind of silly how much I enjoy it.
It's so fun to have a 'need' to be met (such as, "I need a location that fits ___ criteria" or "I need to figure out where this picture was taken") and then go crazy with Google trying to track things down.
Some examples of fun times with google can be found at behind the scenes at the icos tumblr.
But that's really only the google maps side of things.
There are all these other sides-- for instance, there was a scene in Fade (chapter 9) where I actually looked up what stage the moon would be in on that future date at that location to be able to accurately describe the sky both in Pennsylvania and China.
For those curious, in Pennsylvania on February 10, 2024 sunrise will be 7 am and sunset 5:30 pm; in China near Harbin on February 11, 2024 sunrise will be 6:43 am, sunset 4:53 pm. Then of course there are all the distance calculations (The areas we chose in China and Pennsylvania are exactly 12 hours apart; 9:13 pm on May 4 is 9:13 AM on May 5). Flight is about 13 hours between the areas so that was how we figured out how to describe the setting and the status of the sun in China and in the US.
Or in Afterimage with all the globetrotting we looked up locations and length of time needed to travel between by plane, walking, car...
There are places that could probably stand to use more research to be even more accurate, but we also have a dystopian alternate future so some things we purposely do our own way.
Anyway, I'm sure everyone does all this research too but sometimes I have to geek out on it because it's so fun. And I figure other research geeks may like to geek out by reading an entry about it as well. At least, I know I'm enough of a geek that I would read someone else's research entry lol
It's probably for reasons like this that Mythbusters is one of my favorite shows ever.
It's so fun to have a 'need' to be met (such as, "I need a location that fits ___ criteria" or "I need to figure out where this picture was taken") and then go crazy with Google trying to track things down.
Some examples of fun times with google can be found at behind the scenes at the icos tumblr.
But that's really only the google maps side of things.
There are all these other sides-- for instance, there was a scene in Fade (chapter 9) where I actually looked up what stage the moon would be in on that future date at that location to be able to accurately describe the sky both in Pennsylvania and China.
For those curious, in Pennsylvania on February 10, 2024 sunrise will be 7 am and sunset 5:30 pm; in China near Harbin on February 11, 2024 sunrise will be 6:43 am, sunset 4:53 pm. Then of course there are all the distance calculations (The areas we chose in China and Pennsylvania are exactly 12 hours apart; 9:13 pm on May 4 is 9:13 AM on May 5). Flight is about 13 hours between the areas so that was how we figured out how to describe the setting and the status of the sun in China and in the US.
Or in Afterimage with all the globetrotting we looked up locations and length of time needed to travel between by plane, walking, car...
There are places that could probably stand to use more research to be even more accurate, but we also have a dystopian alternate future so some things we purposely do our own way.
Anyway, I'm sure everyone does all this research too but sometimes I have to geek out on it because it's so fun. And I figure other research geeks may like to geek out by reading an entry about it as well. At least, I know I'm enough of a geek that I would read someone else's research entry lol
It's probably for reasons like this that Mythbusters is one of my favorite shows ever.
geek love
I have a relatively new coworker who I haven't talked to a ton but I liked from the moment I first met her. She seemed like she had some spunk and I always like that.
Today a group of us were discussing some things (like you do) and Wicca came up. The person who mentioned it didn't really know what it was and said something vaguely about Paganism and I said, "Yeah, Wiccans are Pagan. I was Wiccan."
He asked if they were good witches or bad witches and I said, "Good witches. Always. It's not really possible to be a bad witch if you're Wiccan unless you're a complete moron or you don't know what the hell you're doing and aren't actually Wiccan."
I tried to explain the three fold law after that but there were all sorts of conversations occurring at once. Of course one person had to ask about ritual knives and be a bit condescending about it and I said, "Well, it's like-- Christians eat 'Jesus' body' and drink 'his blood'-- you're not actually eating flesh and drinking blood, it's ceremonial. It's symbolic." At which point he immediately nodded and laid off.
But the biggest surprise was discovering that New Coworker, who was sitting right next to me, was at the same time saying the things I was. We both said how a person would have to be an idiot to do evil as a Wiccan and then when I looked over at her in surprise (because Wicca is one of the most misunderstood religions, I swear) I found out she'd been Wiccan too.
Later she came by my desk and we started talking, and then I followed her to her desk to tell her some other things. It was cute because she started out being a bit hesitant and we just talked about sci fi/fantasy. Then when I stopped by her desk she said, "I think we're both into similar things and a bit nerdy so I'm just going to feel you out.... did you ever watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer?"
She winced a bit as she asked, as if she expected me to harass her for being immature or something, but of course my answer was, "I did! Buffy! JOSS WHEDON IS SO EFFING EVIL OMG."
And then we super geeked out on, like, everything. I found out she's into archaeology and anthropology like me so I recommended Ancient Aliens to her (with my usual disclaimer of "You will think they're crackpots when you first start it but actually it's really interesting") and then we went on a wheel of nerdiness.
Firefly? Check. Dr Horrible's Singalong? Check + I learned there will be a new one coming up wtf! Mists of Avalon? Check. She brought up Battlestar Galactica and Game of Thrones and I had to admit I hadn't seen/read either yet but I planned to watch GoT. (I tried starting the books one time and couldn't get into it at all but I want to give it another chance) Sandman comics and other Neil Gaiman assorted sundries? Check.
I can't even remember everything we went through. She said in an 'ok I'll admit to this' tone of voice that she even played a board game for Battlestar Galactica and I said, "Hey, I roleplayed Vampire: The Masquerade for years." We kept getting sidetracked on particular topics so we didn't cycle through everything. I didn't ask if she watches anime/manga but I don't think she's that type of geek although I could be wrong.
But the thing is, I'm used to being the sole geek voice where I work. Normally no one else is anywhere NEAR the nerd I am. When the IT people come through and they actually get terms like 'dubbed' or 'subbed' in context of anime I'm always a bit excited-- because I always feel a bit like I've found my brethren.
It was also cute because once she knew I had been Wiccan she said, "Now I can show you my Pagan tattoo!" and showed me her tat of a stylized version of the goddess symbol.
It's kind of exciting to know there's another total nerd working with me now.
I no longer have to be the only one who gets things like ritualistic knives for Wicca or why Joss Whedon is equally awesome and evil for his ability to pull me in and rip my freaking heart out with the things he does to his characters. (We had to have a moment over Spike, the two of us lol). Now if I wanted to mention roleplaying in passing the likelihood of the person getting what it is and not thinking I'm talking about some sort of sex game has increased exponentially.
I've always felt most comfortable around fellow geeks, to be honest. Anime conventions are one of the places I usually feel most at home.
Everyone likes the things I like and when they get in nerdy ass discussions about what series is the best; whether Luffy could kick Natsu and Naruto's asses or whether Ichigo would win over all of them; whether subbed or dubbed is better and whether a person can even truly call themselves an otaku if they're not reading/watching raws; whether fanservice is a good or bad thing; whether yaoi is obnoxious or whether it's awesome... these are things I actually have opinions about. These are things I actually know wtf I'm talking about. And these are things I actually enjoy discussing.
I've always sort of been the person on the outside looking in when it comes to my peer group. For many reasons, not the least of which being I don't drink, smoke, never used drugs, never was interested in any of that. I've never been into parties, either. I like people for who they are and what we can talk about, not the shit they can do for me or how stupid we can be together tonight versus the last. Plus, of course, I eventually figured out I was gay so there was also the whole 'Yeah I'm not exactly as interested in boys as the rest of you' thing my whole life.
It's basically always been a lot of feeling alienated by everyone else in my peer group, not because they mean to but because when you aren't into what everyone else is it ends up feeling like a clique when you're the one on the outside.
But geeks? Oh, geeks. You are into things I'm into. You don't necessarily care about whether I drink, smoke, use, party, anything-- what you care about is whether I know what a d20 is, or whether I cosplay at cons. You care about whether I've seen Neon Genesis Evangelion or whether I think Kirk or Picard is better (Picard all the way btw NOT EVEN A QUESTION).
Geeks of the world, I would like to say this to you:
I love you.
That is all.
[edited to add]
In closing, if you haven't seen this, you must:
http://youtu.be/N9qYF9DZPdw
Today a group of us were discussing some things (like you do) and Wicca came up. The person who mentioned it didn't really know what it was and said something vaguely about Paganism and I said, "Yeah, Wiccans are Pagan. I was Wiccan."
He asked if they were good witches or bad witches and I said, "Good witches. Always. It's not really possible to be a bad witch if you're Wiccan unless you're a complete moron or you don't know what the hell you're doing and aren't actually Wiccan."
I tried to explain the three fold law after that but there were all sorts of conversations occurring at once. Of course one person had to ask about ritual knives and be a bit condescending about it and I said, "Well, it's like-- Christians eat 'Jesus' body' and drink 'his blood'-- you're not actually eating flesh and drinking blood, it's ceremonial. It's symbolic." At which point he immediately nodded and laid off.
But the biggest surprise was discovering that New Coworker, who was sitting right next to me, was at the same time saying the things I was. We both said how a person would have to be an idiot to do evil as a Wiccan and then when I looked over at her in surprise (because Wicca is one of the most misunderstood religions, I swear) I found out she'd been Wiccan too.
Later she came by my desk and we started talking, and then I followed her to her desk to tell her some other things. It was cute because she started out being a bit hesitant and we just talked about sci fi/fantasy. Then when I stopped by her desk she said, "I think we're both into similar things and a bit nerdy so I'm just going to feel you out.... did you ever watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer?"
She winced a bit as she asked, as if she expected me to harass her for being immature or something, but of course my answer was, "I did! Buffy! JOSS WHEDON IS SO EFFING EVIL OMG."
And then we super geeked out on, like, everything. I found out she's into archaeology and anthropology like me so I recommended Ancient Aliens to her (with my usual disclaimer of "You will think they're crackpots when you first start it but actually it's really interesting") and then we went on a wheel of nerdiness.
Firefly? Check. Dr Horrible's Singalong? Check + I learned there will be a new one coming up wtf! Mists of Avalon? Check. She brought up Battlestar Galactica and Game of Thrones and I had to admit I hadn't seen/read either yet but I planned to watch GoT. (I tried starting the books one time and couldn't get into it at all but I want to give it another chance) Sandman comics and other Neil Gaiman assorted sundries? Check.
I can't even remember everything we went through. She said in an 'ok I'll admit to this' tone of voice that she even played a board game for Battlestar Galactica and I said, "Hey, I roleplayed Vampire: The Masquerade for years." We kept getting sidetracked on particular topics so we didn't cycle through everything. I didn't ask if she watches anime/manga but I don't think she's that type of geek although I could be wrong.
But the thing is, I'm used to being the sole geek voice where I work. Normally no one else is anywhere NEAR the nerd I am. When the IT people come through and they actually get terms like 'dubbed' or 'subbed' in context of anime I'm always a bit excited-- because I always feel a bit like I've found my brethren.
It was also cute because once she knew I had been Wiccan she said, "Now I can show you my Pagan tattoo!" and showed me her tat of a stylized version of the goddess symbol.
It's kind of exciting to know there's another total nerd working with me now.
I no longer have to be the only one who gets things like ritualistic knives for Wicca or why Joss Whedon is equally awesome and evil for his ability to pull me in and rip my freaking heart out with the things he does to his characters. (We had to have a moment over Spike, the two of us lol). Now if I wanted to mention roleplaying in passing the likelihood of the person getting what it is and not thinking I'm talking about some sort of sex game has increased exponentially.
I've always felt most comfortable around fellow geeks, to be honest. Anime conventions are one of the places I usually feel most at home.
Everyone likes the things I like and when they get in nerdy ass discussions about what series is the best; whether Luffy could kick Natsu and Naruto's asses or whether Ichigo would win over all of them; whether subbed or dubbed is better and whether a person can even truly call themselves an otaku if they're not reading/watching raws; whether fanservice is a good or bad thing; whether yaoi is obnoxious or whether it's awesome... these are things I actually have opinions about. These are things I actually know wtf I'm talking about. And these are things I actually enjoy discussing.
I've always sort of been the person on the outside looking in when it comes to my peer group. For many reasons, not the least of which being I don't drink, smoke, never used drugs, never was interested in any of that. I've never been into parties, either. I like people for who they are and what we can talk about, not the shit they can do for me or how stupid we can be together tonight versus the last. Plus, of course, I eventually figured out I was gay so there was also the whole 'Yeah I'm not exactly as interested in boys as the rest of you' thing my whole life.
It's basically always been a lot of feeling alienated by everyone else in my peer group, not because they mean to but because when you aren't into what everyone else is it ends up feeling like a clique when you're the one on the outside.
But geeks? Oh, geeks. You are into things I'm into. You don't necessarily care about whether I drink, smoke, use, party, anything-- what you care about is whether I know what a d20 is, or whether I cosplay at cons. You care about whether I've seen Neon Genesis Evangelion or whether I think Kirk or Picard is better (Picard all the way btw NOT EVEN A QUESTION).
Geeks of the world, I would like to say this to you:
I love you.
That is all.
[edited to add]
In closing, if you haven't seen this, you must:
http://youtu.be/N9qYF9DZPdw
