Wine Stain

Originally uploaded by officergleason

So the BlogHer after conference party was a fantastic shindig. There was free wine (red and white), a raffle and a cash bar. I got in with a little up from a new friend.
The above picture is my apology to the Chicago Children’s Museum for spilling wine in their fake car.

There are, of course, more pictures from the affair–but I don’t have them.

I do have photographic evidence of the Genius getting caught in a rope ladder. Enjoy!

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Nerd Office

Originally uploaded by officergleason

Multi-tasking is a crock of shit. I can talk and type at the same time–but the quality will be shitty for both. If I am typing about what I am talking about, it will look (and sound) okay; but typing a JSO eval while talking to a client about Juvenile Advisory Council Training just does not work.

I am bringing this up only to point out that my preferred way of multi-tasking, jumping between projects, is the reason why my response to Geek Challenge has taken so long. It is not an excuse, it is just an explanation. So while I elaborate on my own geek cred, I am also writing an eval, an intake, to friends on gTalk, reviewing My December*and the soundtrack to Once and filling out my time sheets. My attention span is limited, so I might as well make the best of it.

Here’s an expansion to my geek cred, with picture of my cubical**

Before High School
I was obsessed with Dinosaurs. I was so focused on them that when I got to go to the field museum and see the fossils, i pointed out that the aptasaurus head looked wrong, because it had pointy teeth. According to my dad, he brushed it off. A short while later, the Museum admitted to a mix up.

I read everything in the house by my freshman year in high school, including the encyclopedia and books on saints.

I Played D&D.

I owned a pair of knock off, faux-velvet covered Jordans.

Given my asthma, I didn’t play any real sports until I was guilted into football by my friends.

I wrote a top-gun-esque story about these same friends in 7th grade. They shot down communists.

I sucked at sports AND Sports based video games.

High School and College
I had a thick, mop head of hair that was just a disaster. Some of even accused me of wearing a mullet. I think it was just too long and parted in an unflattering way. Fortunately, I have very few (digital) pictures from that time. Unfortunately, my friends have a few.

I ditched class at Lyons Township to buy comics; but I only did it during gym class.

I got two friends to play D&D in high school. Then we started playing other RPGs, specifically Vampire and Werewolf. I played well into college.

In high school, the only youth group I belonged to was Operation Snowball.

In college I was the president of the Student Government, the Nerd Club and I worked at the school paper. I started working on the paper by fixing their macs. Then I got guilted into it being the Op/Ed editor so they could make me fix more computers.

Oh, and my internship in college was here.

“Adult” Years
I still game.

I geek out over politics all the time, even at work. Actually, especially at work.

I have been late to work because one of my computers wasn’t working properly, and I had to fix it.

I have argued with Harry Potter fans that Timothy Hunter is so much better….even as I picked up a Harry Potter book.

I have lost one game of Trivial pursuit.

I own a T-shirt from a web-comic AND from Warren Ellis’ Edison Hate Future series. In fact, I own three Edison T-shirts.

I own a t-shirt that has a Panda on it–a panda that has bitten the knees of a small child.

I have organized meet ups for people who play World Of Warcraft. I’m planning another for the beginning of 08.

At first, i thought that this list, combined with the previous list, makes me a bigger geek than everyone but Will. Given an old set of standards of “Geek,” I believe that I have won. But the term geek doesn’t have the same connotations anymore. Even if things were defined simply for the purpose of this contest, how could we have seriously identified what makes my geek past more “geek” than Shannon’s?

Gaming, comic books and video games are stereotypically guy geek things, but does that make them Geek thing?

If I was a social psychologist, I’d devote a lot of research into the topic of What is Geek, with a heavy focus of gender differences. I may actually make that a project one day. For now, I have to look at both lists and wonder what are the differences? Do they out weigh any similarities? I think what puts me way over on the geek list is the gaming and owning a suit because it resembles the Doctor’s suit from the 2006 season. Does that outweigh an obsession with bowling, computer interface design and freakishly good spelling skills?

My conclusion to this is that we are at a draw. Now, if there is anyone who wants to object to this discussion, please feel free to do so. Please use reason and logic to form a cogent argument; otherwise I’ll pay it no mind.

Now I am off to pick up the Genius and plan for the Wicker Park Fest.

Oh, and I will edit this at least one more time. I’m just in a rush to leave my office.

*Very few have commented on me listening to Kelly. I think they have just accepted that my musical taste is eclectic–that or they are preparing a stinging series of comments on the blog.

**A flyer from Neil Gaiman’s talk at the University of Chicago, my Coldwar Unicorns and a

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Instead of slacking at work, which I prefer to do, I went to court, interviewed a kid (kicked his paranoid father out of the interview four times), ran group and commented on one blog. This comment is extremely important in as much as I have to admit that my geek cred is at risk of being overshadowed.

I think I can still win. It just means I have to embarrass myself further. Considering some of the pictures from my
Flickr Stream, I really shouldn’t be so concerned with embarrassment, so I will pull out all the stops.

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